AWS has published the official exam guide for the new AWS Certified Developer – Associate (DVA-C03). If you're studying for DVA-C02, the question is simple: sit it before the switch, or wait for C03? Here's what changes, based on the official guide.
Key dates
- November 30, 2026: last day to sit DVA-C02.
- December 1, 2026: DVA-C03 starts.
Same format
65 questions (50 scored, 15 unscored), 130 minutes, 720/1000 to pass, compensatory scoring.
Domains and weights
| Domain | DVA-C02 | DVA-C03 |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Development with AWS Services | 32% | 30% |
| 2. Security | 26% | 26% |
| 3. Testing and Deployment (C02: "Deployment") | 24% | 22% |
| 4. Troubleshooting and Optimization | 18% | 22% |
The biggest shift: Troubleshooting and Optimization gains 4 points.
What's new
- Securing AI services (Task 2.3): access control for AI services, data privacy (VPC endpoints and PrivateLink), input/output filtering (content, PII/PHI, denied topics, prompt injection), AI agent security (tool-use authorization, session isolation, human-in-the-loop) and protecting sensitive data in logs.
- AI in the dev lifecycle: spec-driven code generation, AI-assisted review and refactoring (Kiro), integrating managed services such as Amazon Bedrock and Bedrock AgentCore, and AI for test generation, CI/CD, error analysis and optimization.
- Containers: ECR images (Dockerfiles, tagging, lifecycle policies) and deploying to ECS, EKS and Fargate with rolling updates; health checks and liveness/readiness probes.
- Presigned URLs with S3 and CloudFront.
- More services in scope: Data Firehose, CloudShell, CodeArtifact, AppConfig, Private CA, WAF, OpenSearch and Athena, among others.
What moved or merged
- SAM unit testing moves to Testing (3.2), Lambda performance tuning to Optimization (4.3), serialization to 1.1, and API Gateway stages and custom domains to 3.1.
- DynamoDB, encryption, testing, observability and optimization are condensed into fewer skills, with the same weight.
Out of scope
Choosing foundation models, prompt engineering, RAG design, AI guardrails and governance, SageMaker AI, Strands Agents, Polly, Rekognition and QuickSight. It's a developer exam, not an ML one.
C02 now or C03 in December?
- Sit C02 if you're well into the material and can book before November 30: the core (Lambda, DynamoDB, API Gateway, SQS/SNS, IAM, Cognito, KMS, CI/CD) is the same.
- Go for C03 if you're starting now or can't book with margin: study the new blueprint directly, AI and containers included.
How I'd prepare
Use the official guide as your checklist, skill by skill. Add the free Skill Builder course, the official practice question set, and one small project (API Gateway → Lambda → DynamoDB, then the same thing in a container on Fargate).
Disclosure: I'm Alberto Fernández and I built CertiCloud, an Android app to prep for this exam in English and Spanish. It already covers DVA-C03 and keeps DVA-C02 until November 30, with 50 mock exams, explained questions and flashcards. CertiCloud is independent and is not affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by Amazon Web Services. If it helps: CertiCloud on Google Play
Official guide: AWS Certified Developer – Associate (DVA-C03)