DVA-C02 Development with AWS Services Practice Question
This DVA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of development with aws services. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A developer is building a serverless application using AWS Lambda and Amazon DynamoDB. The application needs to store large JSON documents (up to 1 MB) and retrieve them by a primary key. The documents are updated frequently. Which DynamoDB feature should the developer consider to optimize performance and cost for storing and retrieving these large items?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "primary"
Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use Amazon S3 to store the documents and store only the S3 key in DynamoDB.
Option A is correct because DynamoDB has a 400 KB item size limit, so storing large JSON documents (up to 1 MB) directly in DynamoDB is not possible. By storing the documents in Amazon S3 (which supports objects up to 5 TB) and keeping only the S3 object key in DynamoDB, the developer can efficiently retrieve the document via the primary key while avoiding DynamoDB's size constraint. This pattern also reduces DynamoDB read/write capacity unit consumption, lowering cost for frequently updated large items.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Use Amazon S3 to store the documents and store only the S3 key in DynamoDB.
Why this is correct
This is the recommended approach for items exceeding the 400 KB DynamoDB item size limit.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) to cache the large items.
Why it's wrong here
DAX caches items but does not bypass the 400 KB item size limit.
✗
Use DynamoDB Transactions to atomically update the items.
Why it's wrong here
Transactions provide ACID guarantees but do not change the item size limit.
✗
Enable DynamoDB Streams to capture changes to the items.
Why it's wrong here
Streams capture item modifications but do not help with large item storage.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume DynamoDB can handle any size of data because it is a NoSQL database, but they overlook the explicit 400 KB item size limit, making the S3 integration pattern the only viable solution for documents up to 1 MB.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, DynamoDB's 400 KB item size limit includes both the attribute names and values, so a JSON document of 1 MB would be rejected with a ValidationException. The S3 large-object pattern leverages S3's multipart upload for efficient writes and supports conditional writes (e.g., if-none-match) to prevent overwrites. For frequently updated documents, consider using S3 Transfer Acceleration or presigned URLs to reduce latency, and DynamoDB's conditional updates on the S3 key field to ensure consistency.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Development with AWS Services — This question tests Development with AWS Services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use Amazon S3 to store the documents and store only the S3 key in DynamoDB. — Option A is correct because DynamoDB has a 400 KB item size limit, so storing large JSON documents (up to 1 MB) directly in DynamoDB is not possible. By storing the documents in Amazon S3 (which supports objects up to 5 TB) and keeping only the S3 object key in DynamoDB, the developer can efficiently retrieve the document via the primary key while avoiding DynamoDB's size constraint. This pattern also reduces DynamoDB read/write capacity unit consumption, lowering cost for frequently updated large items.
What should I do if I get this DVA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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