DOP-C02 Configuration Management and IaC Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  Write the CDK app and deploy directly without synthesis to avoid extra steps.

  Why it's wrong here

  AWS CDK does not have a deploy path that bypasses synthesis; the `cdk deploy` CLI command invokes the AWS CDK synthesizer to generate CloudFormation templates in memory before making any deployment API call. The framework requires this intermediate representation so that AWS CloudFormation can orchestrate resource provisioning, rollbacks, and change sets. There is no 'direct deploy' toggle, and avoiding synthesis would also eliminate the built-in validation, asset handling, and IAM policy generation that happen during synthesis.

• ✗

  Write the CDK app to generate Terraform configurations and store them in Git.

  Why it's wrong here

  The AWS CDK's synthesis engine emits CloudFormation templates (JSON or YAML), not Terraform HCL configuration files; the 'CDK for Terraform' project is a separate tool under the HashiCorp ecosystem, not the AWS CDK. Generating Terraform configurations would require a different framework entirely and would break the integration with CloudFormation-native features like stacks, change sets, and the event-driven console history. While storing generated configurations in Git is a fine versioning practice, the stated workflow incorrectly replaces the CDK's target format and would not produce deployable output through AWS-native services.

• ✗

  Write raw CloudFormation templates instead of CDK to simplify version control.

  Why it's wrong here

  Writing raw CloudFormation templates removes the CDK's ability to synthesise infrastructure from high-level programming language constructs, thereby forfeiting the imperative logic and abstraction that enable modular, testable code for version control. This approach is tempting because CloudFormation templates are the native, declarative format that AWS directly deploys, and they would be the correct choice if the developer required strict adherence to a YAML/JSON-only pipeline without the CDK's synthesis step.

• ✓

  Write the CDK app in TypeScript, store it in a Git repository, and use CDK pipelines for deployment.

  Why this is correct

  Storing an ordinary TypeScript CDK project in Git and using the `cdk pipelines` construct creates a self-mutating CI/CD pipeline that automatically builds, synthesizes, and deploys the app to one or more AWS environments. This approach lets you version the CDK source, review pull requests, run unit tests, and retain the full CloudFormation deployment model underneath. It is the recommended production pattern because pipeline updates are also managed through the same CDK code, giving you repeatable and auditable infrastructure delivery.

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