AWS CERTIFIED DEVELOPER – ASSOCIATE PRACTICE EXAM
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS 2026.
1. A developer needs to securely store database credentials for an application running on
AWS. Which service is the MOST appropriate for this purpose?
A. Amazon S3
B. AWS Secrets Manager
C. Amazon DynamoDB
D. AWS CloudTrail
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: AWS Secrets Manager is specifically designed for securely storing and
retrieving sensitive information like database credentials. S3 and DynamoDB are not
intended for secrets management, and CloudTrail is used for logging.
2. Which AWS service allows you to run code without provisioning or managing
servers?
A. Amazon EC2
B. AWS Lambda
C. AWS Elastic Beanstalk
D. Amazon ECS
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: AWS Lambda is a serverless compute service. EC2 and ECS require
infrastructure management, while Elastic Beanstalk abstracts some management but
still uses underlying resources.
3. What is the maximum execution time for an AWS Lambda function?
A. 5 minutes
B. 10 minutes
C. 15 minutes
D. 30 minutes
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: AWS Lambda functions have a maximum execution time of 15 minutes.
The other options are incorrect limits.
4. Which service is best suited for hosting a fully managed NoSQL database?
A. Amazon RDS
B. Amazon Redshift
C. Amazon DynamoDB
D. Amazon Aurora
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: DynamoDB is a fully managed NoSQL database. RDS and Aurora are
relational databases, while Redshift is for data warehousing.
,5. A developer wants to trigger a Lambda function when a file is uploaded to an S3
bucket. What should be used?
A. CloudWatch Logs
B. S3 Event Notifications
C. AWS Config
D. AWS CloudFormation
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: S3 Event Notifications can trigger Lambda functions on events like
object uploads. Other services do not provide this direct event trigger functionality.
6. Which IAM feature allows temporary access to AWS resources?
A. IAM Users
B. IAM Groups
C. IAM Roles
D. IAM Policies
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: IAM Roles provide temporary security credentials. Users and groups
are permanent entities, and policies define permissions.
7. What is the primary benefit of using Amazon API Gateway with AWS Lambda?
A. Reduced storage cost
B. Automatic scaling of databases
C. Creating RESTful APIs with serverless backend
D. Direct access to EC2 instances
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: API Gateway enables creation of REST APIs that invoke Lambda
functions, forming a serverless architecture.
8. Which service provides message queuing to decouple application components?
A. Amazon SNS
B. Amazon SQS
C. AWS Step Functions
D. AWS Glue
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: Amazon SQS is a message queuing service. SNS is for pub/sub
messaging, while Step Functions orchestrate workflows.
9. What is the default consistency model of Amazon DynamoDB?
A. Strong consistency
B. Eventual consistency
, C. Read-after-write consistency
D. Immediate consistency
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: DynamoDB uses eventual consistency by default, though strongly
consistent reads can be enabled optionally.
10. Which AWS service is used for deploying infrastructure as code?
A. AWS CodeDeploy
B. AWS CloudFormation
C. AWS CodeBuild
D. AWS CodePipeline
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: CloudFormation allows defining infrastructure using templates.
CodeDeploy and CodePipeline are for CI/CD.
11. What is the purpose of AWS X-Ray?
A. Monitor billing
B. Analyze application performance and trace requests
C. Store logs
D. Manage IAM users
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: AWS X-Ray helps trace requests and analyze performance issues in
distributed applications.
12. Which service can be used to cache frequently accessed data?
A. Amazon RDS
B. Amazon ElastiCache
C. Amazon S3
D. AWS Lambda
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: ElastiCache provides in-memory caching. RDS and S3 are storage
services, not caching solutions.
13. What is a key benefit of using Amazon SNS?
A. Durable message storage
B. Fan-out messaging
C. Database replication
D. File storage
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: SNS supports pub/sub and fan-out messaging. SQS provides durable
queues, not SNS.
, 14. Which AWS service allows orchestration of serverless workflows?
A. AWS Step Functions
B. AWS Lambda
C. AWS Batch
D. AWS Glue
Correct Answer: A
Explanation: Step Functions orchestrate workflows by coordinating multiple AWS
services.
15. What is the purpose of AWS CodePipeline?
A. Monitor logs
B. Automate CI/CD pipelines
C. Manage IAM roles
D. Store application data
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: CodePipeline automates build, test, and deployment workflows.
16. Which storage class in S3 is best for infrequently accessed data with rapid retrieval?
A. S3 Standard
B. S3 Glacier
C. S3 Standard-IA
D. S3 One Zone-IA
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: Standard-IA is ideal for infrequent access with quick retrieval. Glacier
is for archival.
17. What does AWS SDK provide?
A. Infrastructure templates
B. Programming language APIs to interact with AWS
C. Database engines
D. Monitoring tools
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: AWS SDKs provide APIs in various languages to interact with AWS
services.
18. Which service helps in deploying applications automatically to EC2 instances?
A. AWS CodeDeploy
B. AWS CodeBuild
C. AWS CodeCommit
D. AWS CloudTrail
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS 2026.
1. A developer needs to securely store database credentials for an application running on
AWS. Which service is the MOST appropriate for this purpose?
A. Amazon S3
B. AWS Secrets Manager
C. Amazon DynamoDB
D. AWS CloudTrail
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: AWS Secrets Manager is specifically designed for securely storing and
retrieving sensitive information like database credentials. S3 and DynamoDB are not
intended for secrets management, and CloudTrail is used for logging.
2. Which AWS service allows you to run code without provisioning or managing
servers?
A. Amazon EC2
B. AWS Lambda
C. AWS Elastic Beanstalk
D. Amazon ECS
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: AWS Lambda is a serverless compute service. EC2 and ECS require
infrastructure management, while Elastic Beanstalk abstracts some management but
still uses underlying resources.
3. What is the maximum execution time for an AWS Lambda function?
A. 5 minutes
B. 10 minutes
C. 15 minutes
D. 30 minutes
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: AWS Lambda functions have a maximum execution time of 15 minutes.
The other options are incorrect limits.
4. Which service is best suited for hosting a fully managed NoSQL database?
A. Amazon RDS
B. Amazon Redshift
C. Amazon DynamoDB
D. Amazon Aurora
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: DynamoDB is a fully managed NoSQL database. RDS and Aurora are
relational databases, while Redshift is for data warehousing.
,5. A developer wants to trigger a Lambda function when a file is uploaded to an S3
bucket. What should be used?
A. CloudWatch Logs
B. S3 Event Notifications
C. AWS Config
D. AWS CloudFormation
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: S3 Event Notifications can trigger Lambda functions on events like
object uploads. Other services do not provide this direct event trigger functionality.
6. Which IAM feature allows temporary access to AWS resources?
A. IAM Users
B. IAM Groups
C. IAM Roles
D. IAM Policies
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: IAM Roles provide temporary security credentials. Users and groups
are permanent entities, and policies define permissions.
7. What is the primary benefit of using Amazon API Gateway with AWS Lambda?
A. Reduced storage cost
B. Automatic scaling of databases
C. Creating RESTful APIs with serverless backend
D. Direct access to EC2 instances
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: API Gateway enables creation of REST APIs that invoke Lambda
functions, forming a serverless architecture.
8. Which service provides message queuing to decouple application components?
A. Amazon SNS
B. Amazon SQS
C. AWS Step Functions
D. AWS Glue
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: Amazon SQS is a message queuing service. SNS is for pub/sub
messaging, while Step Functions orchestrate workflows.
9. What is the default consistency model of Amazon DynamoDB?
A. Strong consistency
B. Eventual consistency
, C. Read-after-write consistency
D. Immediate consistency
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: DynamoDB uses eventual consistency by default, though strongly
consistent reads can be enabled optionally.
10. Which AWS service is used for deploying infrastructure as code?
A. AWS CodeDeploy
B. AWS CloudFormation
C. AWS CodeBuild
D. AWS CodePipeline
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: CloudFormation allows defining infrastructure using templates.
CodeDeploy and CodePipeline are for CI/CD.
11. What is the purpose of AWS X-Ray?
A. Monitor billing
B. Analyze application performance and trace requests
C. Store logs
D. Manage IAM users
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: AWS X-Ray helps trace requests and analyze performance issues in
distributed applications.
12. Which service can be used to cache frequently accessed data?
A. Amazon RDS
B. Amazon ElastiCache
C. Amazon S3
D. AWS Lambda
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: ElastiCache provides in-memory caching. RDS and S3 are storage
services, not caching solutions.
13. What is a key benefit of using Amazon SNS?
A. Durable message storage
B. Fan-out messaging
C. Database replication
D. File storage
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: SNS supports pub/sub and fan-out messaging. SQS provides durable
queues, not SNS.
, 14. Which AWS service allows orchestration of serverless workflows?
A. AWS Step Functions
B. AWS Lambda
C. AWS Batch
D. AWS Glue
Correct Answer: A
Explanation: Step Functions orchestrate workflows by coordinating multiple AWS
services.
15. What is the purpose of AWS CodePipeline?
A. Monitor logs
B. Automate CI/CD pipelines
C. Manage IAM roles
D. Store application data
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: CodePipeline automates build, test, and deployment workflows.
16. Which storage class in S3 is best for infrequently accessed data with rapid retrieval?
A. S3 Standard
B. S3 Glacier
C. S3 Standard-IA
D. S3 One Zone-IA
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: Standard-IA is ideal for infrequent access with quick retrieval. Glacier
is for archival.
17. What does AWS SDK provide?
A. Infrastructure templates
B. Programming language APIs to interact with AWS
C. Database engines
D. Monitoring tools
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: AWS SDKs provide APIs in various languages to interact with AWS
services.
18. Which service helps in deploying applications automatically to EC2 instances?
A. AWS CodeDeploy
B. AWS CodeBuild
C. AWS CodeCommit
D. AWS CloudTrail