Certification Exam Preparation Path

sequenceDiagram
    autonumber
    participant Course as Exam Prep Standard Course
    participant Video as Udemy: Video Course
    participant Plan as Study Plan
    participant Practice as Practice Tests
    participant Book as Guidebook
    participant Flashcards as Flashcards
    participant HandsOn as Hands-On Practice | Documentation | Whitepapers
    participant Exam as Exam

    activate Course
    Course->>Plan: List services to explore
    activate Plan
    Note over Course: Step 1: Understand the exam scope
    deactivate Course

    Note over Video: Step 2: Complete the Video Course
    activate Video
    Video->>Plan: Take notes, refine the study plan

    Video->>Flashcards: Create flashcards for key facts
    activate Flashcards

    loop Daily Routine
        Flashcards->>Flashcards: Review flashcards
    end
    
    activate HandsOn
    Video->>HandsOn: Engage in hands-on practice with less familiar services
    Video->>HandsOn: Read whitepapers and best practices for relevant services
    HandsOn->>Flashcards: Add new flashcards
    deactivate Video

    Plan->>Plan: Refine study plan

    Note over Practice: Step 3: Practice Tests and Identifying Gaps
    activate Practice
    Practice->>Practice: Complete practice tests
    Practice->>Practice: Analyze mistakes
    Practice->>Flashcards: Enrich flashcards
    Practice->>HandsOn: Conduct hands-on practice, consult documentation for errors
    HandsOn->>Flashcards: Add new flashcards
    Flashcards->>Practice: Revisit practice tests to consolidate knowledge

    Note over Book: Step 4: Discover Unknowns
    activate Book
    Book->>Book: Read thoroughly
    Book->>Flashcards: Create additional flashcards

    deactivate Book
    Plan ->> Exam: Schedule the exam
    Note over Plan: My nearest test center was only available a month later.
    Note over Practice: Begin simulating full-length exams<br>(no breaks, 3 hours, exam conditions)
    deactivate Plan
    deactivate HandsOn
    Practice->>Practice: Complete practice tests
    deactivate Practice
    deactivate Flashcards
    Note over Exam: Passed on the first attempt! 🎉

Disclaimer: I have spent significant time with these resources and successfully passed the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional exam. My opinions are subjective and based on my personal experience. I share this information to assist others in their preparation journey and to provide insights into what worked for me.

Resources

Please note that I have specifically excluded official documentation for AWS services from this list, as they are not meant to be rated.

All the resources I sorted from the most helpful to the least helpful ↕️.

1. Tutorials Dojo | Practice Test | AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional Practice Exams 2025

This is an excellent resource consisting of 6 comprehensive test suites, each available in review and practice modes. The practice exams provide detailed explanations and include references. However, some of the content may reference outdated services.

2. AWS | Course | Exam Prep Standard Course: AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional (SAP-C02)

This free exam preparation course offered by AWS covers important topics and helps guide learners into deeper exploration of specific details independently.

3. Udemy | Video Course | AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional Video Course

Udemy reviews score: 4.7⭐️.

This on-demand video course provides a solid overview of relevant services and highlights various nuances critical for the exam. It is well-structured to aid in understanding the key concepts necessary for success.

4. GitHub | Cheat Sheet | Tiduster/AWSPro.md

This dense cheat sheet provides a quick overview of topics, key numbers and boundaries, although it is sometimes inconsistently structured and fragmented. It is suitable for those who already have a good understanding of the topics.

5. Udemy | Practice Test | Practice Exam AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional

This preparation resource includes 180 questions accompanied by good explanations. However, it lacks comprehensive coverage of the exam contents.

6. O'Reilly | Guidebook | AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional Exam Guide (SAP-C02)

This guidebook is rich in diagrams, which help visualize and understand complex concepts, proving to be an invaluable resource for visual learners.

Example diagram

DX options summary - contains all possible options, makes it easy to remember limits and use cases of each of them.

7. Udemy | Practice Test | AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional Practice Exam

Udemy reviews score: 4.4⭐️.

This resource includes 220 practice questions. However, it lacks detailed explanations in some areas as well as providing ambiguous questions and answer options.

Lack of detail in explanations

The explanation simply states this method is better than generating CURs from individual member accounts because "it would be a lot of work." However, more detailed explanations of the advantages of a centralized approach would be beneficial.

8. O'Reilly | Interactive Lab | AWS Sandbox

The sandbox environment allows for hands-on practice with various tools. However, it is somewhat limited in scope, lacking availability of cross-organization and advanced security tools. Own free tier account is more practical for hands-on.

Th3Un1q3/Learning Path.md