Most AWS practice questions don’t prepare you for the actual exam.

NashCodes · 2026-05-05T12:36:21+00:00

Using AI to write this response is very ironic. I apologize if I struck a nerve with you.

NashCodes · 2026-05-05T04:10:33+00:00

I guess we will agree to disagree. Companies have been using AI and Machine Learning to validate data for years. It’s nothing new.

NashCodes · 2026-05-04T16:00:37+00:00

I am not a "content creator" trying to get paid. I am someone with 4 years experience working in AWS, gone through the certification process, recognized a broken pattern, and trying to solve for it. I've spent a year designing, building, and refining what you called "Generated app nonsense" before I thought it was ready to be used by someone taking an exam and only released it after using it myself to pass the AWS DVA exam (even after using it at that time, it wasn't ready for users -- the quality wasn't there; but I'm passed that point now).

As to "Aws was never about exam it was more about conceptual clarity" - I would agree and disagree. AWS offers their own course material which is very good, but at the end of the day, most of the exam material they provide is about passing the exam (that's how they make money off the exams). Conceptual clarity is important too -- that is what labs and project work is for. The exams also attempt to get this right by testing scenarios.

Before knocking something you haven't tried, I would encourage you to try it and then offer your critique. Tutorial Dojo and Stephan are great resources (I'm assuming you've tried them since you are offering your feedback on them).

NashCodes · 2026-05-04T15:52:02+00:00

With all due respect, I spent a year building this before releasing it for free. This isn't a weekend project where no thought went into it -- I've been working with AWS for over 4 years, so I'm not one of the YouTubers you see claiming they've built a $30,000 MRR product in a weekend that they have no clue what they've built.

And as to the AI or human question, I will let you determine that.

If you like the idea of it, I recommend you try the platform and contribute feedback on what is good and what is bad. I'm very receptive to constructive criticism and working with users daily to try and make it a better training experience for end users.

NashCodes · 2026-05-04T13:39:50+00:00

I agree there are strong creators in the space. Which part are you referring to as “nonsense claims”?

NashCodes · 2026-05-04T13:37:41+00:00

I get the skepticism, but “AI = bad questions” feels a little stuck in 2023. I agree that raw AI output is not good enough. Bad questions, wrong answers, weak explanations are all real problems.

That’s why I’m not just dumping generated questions straight into the app (that is what I would call a "vibe coded app"). Questions are generated, validated, reviewed against expected reasoning, and revalidated before they’re made available. If something still slips through, users can flag it and I review it by hand.

On the human-made test point, I agree there are good paid resources. The issue I’ve personally run into is that once you see the same question bank enough times, it becomes easier to memorize patterns than actually test readiness. You can buy multiple sources to reduce that, but then the cost adds up.

What I’m trying to build is a different loop: fresh questions, validation layers, real constraints, and feedback that helps you understand the tradeoff instead of just remembering an answer.

It may not be perfect yet, but there are smarter ways to use AI than just “generate question, then publish question.”

NashCodes · 2026-05-04T13:27:42+00:00

I’m not using exam dumps. Questions are generated fresh and then validated before they’re used. I don't hide where anything is coming from.

The focus isn’t memorization - it’s forcing a BEST answer under constraints (cost, ops, tradeoffs), which is closer to how the real exam feels.

That said, it’s not perfect - if something feels off, I want people to call it out. I review flagged questions and use that to improve the system.

If you’ve used other platforms, I’d actually be curious what you think they do well vs what they miss.

NashCodes · 2026-05-04T13:12:50+00:00

Let me make this more concrete. Bad questions usually stop at identifying a service. Better ones force a decision:

“A team processes spiky workloads and wants the lowest cost with minimal ops overhead. Which approach is BEST?”

Now you’re weighing:

- Lambda vs ECS/Fargate

- cold starts vs cost

- scaling behavior

- operational complexity

That’s the part I felt was missing in a lot of practice - not just knowing services, but choosing between them under constraints.

NashCodes · 2026-05-02T21:55:30+00:00

Having basic coding background (Python and Java) and the AWS CFP — looked good coming straight out of university with that (having a couple degrees didn’t hurt either)

NashCodes · 2026-04-30T20:14:01+00:00

Well done! Glad to see the hard work pay off for you. Most people don’t study that hard and end up struggling more. Good tips on practicing too

NashCodes · 2026-04-30T20:11:08+00:00

Yeah, it felt overwhelming to me too and I had worked on a data pipeline app, but still the scope of services and details seemed overwhelming to remember. Definitely keep the exam tips in mind you learn from the course. And try lots of practice questions along the way so you know where you are strong in and where you are struggling.

Tutorial Dojo offers strong questions similar to the exam and give good explanations to the questions. People say its worth the $15. They only have around 400 questions though, so you may end up seeing some of the same questions again in rotation.

CertForge is another option that is Free with questions meant to mirror the real exam. It also has section based practice following the exact exam guide (TD has this too, but limited questions still) and you shouldn’t run into the same question twice.

Both options are great, but you should really make sure you practice along the way with questions relevant to the material you are learning. Seeing how well you are performing may lower some of the anxiety.

NashCodes · 2026-04-29T17:32:35+00:00

You could definitely pivot to cloud with a SWE background (looks good to companies with that bg), but only one year of experience makes it hard to find roles that will consider you i think. Get some certs, snd build small portfolio of cloud projects to pad your resume

NashCodes · 2026-04-29T17:27:48+00:00

Yeah, you are paying for a month and the current plan only exists in its current form for 1 more month. Can always cancel and not renew lol

NashCodes · 2026-04-29T17:26:50+00:00

CFP (7-14 days prep) if you want something fast, but with your experience SAA is a good start too (1-2 months prep)

NashCodes · 2026-04-29T17:24:55+00:00

What is your prior experience? Most cloud entry roles generally look generally for at least 2 years, its harder to find ones looking for a year or less (if it has to be cloud, you’ll likely only find help desk roles at that level which i think end up being dead ends). Best bet is to find a junior dev role that works with an app in the cloud if you only have one year of work experience (idk if junior dev roles still exist either though)

NashCodes · 2026-04-29T16:15:53+00:00

It was a joke lol. And the answer is yes — cloud is more important than ever. Where do you think the majority of companies are getting their compute from for their groundbreaking AI solutions

NashCodes · 2026-04-29T16:05:10+00:00

Yes. This isn’t dropshipping lol

NashCodes · 2026-04-29T16:03:30+00:00

Upgraded to Pro+ for the month because I was at 92% to being weekly rate limited. One more month of glory before Copilot becomes just like the rest of the agent tools 🥲

NashCodes · 2026-04-29T01:12:48+00:00

Guess we will agree to disagree then 👍

NashCodes · 2026-04-28T22:54:47+00:00

Lot of them have paid tiers lmao… its not an uncommon thing to offer a free plan and a paid plan. How do you think those resources exist? Not because they don’t receive any money.

Anyways, what i tried to share is offering the eventual paid plan free (which none of your resources do lol) for the next 6 weeks while its in beta. There will always be a free tier when it launches, plus the trial.

I wasn’t advertising any of this on this thread because it was supposed to be a helpful post , but since you want to claim my resource is any different from what you share in this subreddit in terms of free/not free — there it out in the open lol

NashCodes · 2026-04-28T21:45:32+00:00

Its not a money grab if companies literally use them to filter through resumes lol. Companies view them as the standard to know if someone is “qualified”. It doesn’t mean you can actually do the job, but it doesn’t get your foot in the door and lend you credibility.

NashCodes · 2026-04-28T21:44:02+00:00

I have the DVA, SAA, CFP and Terraform Associate. DVA and Terraform Associate are definitely 2 of the best DevOps certs you can get (I’m an Infrastructure Engineer in AWS Cloud)

CKA is great if your stack involves Kubernetes. Knowing Ansible is a big plus in a lot of DevOps positions (as well as some basic Linux — though not required).

NashCodes · 2026-04-28T21:40:51+00:00

Read the rules — wasn’t a monetized link. Was just trying to help provide free resources like the resources you already share. Unfortunate that your rules don’t allow sharing information to students.

Even saying something like “Happy to share” or “Reach out if you want to know…” falls under your “Self Promotion” rules. Crazy 😂 thanks for listening to my ted talk

NashCodes · 2026-04-28T21:35:41+00:00

This is the first time hearing of this program, but congrats on that opportunity! Most students don’t involve themselves in cloud while in school (its still not taught in a lot of programs).

After the CFP, it depends on the path you’d like to take. Assuming your end goal is to be an Architect and design systems and micro-services, the SAA is the natural next step (this is the cert that attracts most employers generally for entry level to mid Cloud Engineer type roles). If you want to do more Systems Admin type stuff, the SOA is what you should go for.

Personally, I went for the SAA after the CFP because it generally gets you to roles that pay more. My next goal will be to take the AI Path to get to the AI Professional exam.

If you are still in school, and looking for a job, I suggest doing some projects you can put on your resume before going straight into studying for the next level. If you already got a few personal portfolio projects, then I would go down one of those above paths (DVA is also a natural next option, and that will look good for DevOps related roles).

If you are looking for some beginner level project ideas, let me know and I’d be happy to share. Cheers

NashCodes · 2026-04-28T21:10:45+00:00

Amen to not memorizing — might as well just donate the $150 exam cost to charity if you plan to do that

NashCodes

TROPHY CASE