DEA-C01 FAQ — Common Questions (AWS Data Engineer Associate)

ETL: Extract, transform, and load workflow for moving and reshaping data into a target system.

CDC: Change data capture, where inserts, updates, and deletes are emitted as change events for downstream processing.

Data lake: Centralized storage pattern that keeps raw and curated data available for many analytics tools and downstream consumers.

What is AWS Certified Data Engineer — Associate (DEA-C01)?

DEA-C01 is an associate-level AWS certification focused on building and operating data pipelines and analytics platforms on AWS: ingestion, transformation, storage, monitoring/troubleshooting, and security/governance.

If you want the fastest orientation, start with the section overview and keep the official exam guide from Resources open while you study.

What score do you need to pass DEA-C01?

AWS uses a scaled score (100–1000). The minimum passing score is 720.

How many questions and how much time?

• 65 questions
• 130 minutes
• Multiple-choice and multiple-response

Who should take DEA-C01?

AWS describes the ideal candidate as having:

• ~2–3 years of experience in data engineering or data architecture
• At least 1–2 years of hands-on AWS experience

What AWS services should you know?

At a high level, you should be comfortable with:

• Data lake and governance: Amazon S3, AWS Lake Formation, AWS Glue Data Catalog
• ETL and processing: AWS Glue, Amazon EMR (Spark), AWS Lambda, AWS Glue DataBrew
• Streaming and ingestion: Amazon Kinesis, Amazon MSK, AWS DMS, Amazon AppFlow
• Analytics: Amazon Athena, Amazon Redshift, Amazon QuickSight
• Orchestration: Amazon EventBridge, AWS Step Functions, Amazon MWAA
• Ops and security: CloudWatch, CloudTrail, IAM, KMS, Macie

Use the Cheat Sheet for service pickers and high-yield patterns.

How long should you study for DEA-C01?

Typical ranges vary by hands-on experience:

• Strong AWS + strong data background: 40–60 hours
• Strong data background but newer to AWS: 60–90 hours
• Newer to data engineering platforms: 90–120+ hours

Pick a schedule you can sustain, then cycle between the Cheat Sheet and Resources so you keep service choice and official scope aligned.

How do you practice effectively for DEA-C01?

Follow a loop:

1. Read one objective area from the official exam guide in Resources
2. Review the matching service patterns in the Cheat Sheet
3. Write 3–5 “miss rules” from what you got wrong
4. Re-drill weak tasks 48–72 hours later (spaced repetition)