AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate Exam DEA-C01

Summary

In this video, Neil Davis and Brook Seahorn from Digital Cloud Training discuss the new AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate certification, set for release in spring 2024. They share their experiences with the beta exam, emphasizing its difficulty and the deep understanding of AWS services like Glue, Athena, and Redshift required. Viewers are advised to have a strong grasp of SQL and data engineering concepts, and cautioned about the potential disparity between early training materials and the actual exam content.

Takeaways

• 📅 The AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate exam is in beta and is set to be officially released in spring 2024.
• 🎓 The exam is challenging and requires a solid understanding of data engineering principles and AWS services.
• 🕵️‍♂️ It is recommended to have practical experience as a data engineer or at least some familiarity with the role.
• ⏱ The beta exam consists of 85 questions and lasts for 170 minutes, which many found to be a tight schedule.
• 🔒 The beta exam results will be released 90 days after its closure on January 12th, 2024, with the earliest possible date being April 11th, 2024.
• 📝 There is a significant focus on AWS core services, especially around data pipelines, monitoring, and troubleshooting.
• 🛠️ Practical knowledge of services like Glue, Athena, and Redshift is crucial, including how to build catalogs and set up schemas.
• 🔄 The exam tests knowledge of ETL operations and various AWS data-related services, emphasizing their integration and application.
• 📚 It is suggested to complete the Solutions Architect Associate exam first due to overlapping content and foundational requirements.
• 📉 The retirement of the AWS Data Analytics Specialty certification indicates a shift towards a more specialized focus on data engineering.
• ⚠️ Be cautious with early training courses as they may not align perfectly with the final exam requirements once officially released.

Q & A

What is the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate certification?

The AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate is an associate-level certification by AWS that focuses on data engineering skills and knowledge. It is currently in beta and is due to be released in the spring of 2024.

What is the difficulty level of the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate beta exam according to the speakers?

Both speakers found the beta exam to be more challenging than anticipated, emphasizing that it is not an easy certification and requires a solid understanding of data engineering concepts and AWS services.

How much time is allotted for the beta exam of AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate?

The beta exam consists of 85 questions and candidates are given 170 minutes to complete it.

When did the beta exam for AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate start and when will it officially close?

The beta exam started on November 27th, 2023, and it will officially close on the 12th of January 2024.

What is the expected format of the final AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate exam?

The final exam is expected to have 65 questions and will likely be a more streamlined version of the beta exam, with a release date planned for April 2024.

How long does it take to receive the results after taking the beta exam?

Results for the beta exam will be available 90 days after the exam closes, which means candidates can expect to find out their results around April 11th, 2024.

What is the background of Neil Davis and how did he find the exam?

Neil Davis comes from a Solutions Architect background and found the exam to be very challenging, particularly due to the data engineering-specific questions and the need for practical knowledge of services like Glue, Athena, and Redshift.

What is one of the key services that the exam focuses on, according to the speakers?

The speakers highlight that AWS Glue is one of the key services that the exam focuses on, along with Athena and Redshift, indicating the importance of having in-depth knowledge of these services.

What advice do the speakers give for individuals looking to prepare for the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate exam?

The speakers suggest taking the Solutions Architect Associate exam first as a minimum, due to the overlap in content, and possibly the Developer and SysOps exams for additional context. They also caution against relying solely on early training courses that may not align with the final exam requirements.

What is the significance of the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate exam in relation to the retired AWS Data Analytics Specialty certification?

The AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate exam is seen as a replacement for the retired AWS Data Analytics Specialty certification, indicating a shift in focus towards data engineering and a more specialized skill set.

What is the general consensus between the speakers regarding the difficulty of the exam compared to other AWS associate-level certifications?

Both speakers agree that the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate exam is notably more difficult than other associate-level certifications, suggesting it may require a level of knowledge more akin to a specialty certification.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate Certification

Neil Davis and Brook Seahorn introduce the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate certification, which is currently in beta and slated for a spring 2024 release. They discuss their recent experience with the beta exam, emphasizing its difficulty and the necessity of having data engineering experience. The exam covers core AWS services, data pipelines, monitoring, and troubleshooting, with 85 questions to be completed within 170 minutes. It is suggested that the exam is not for the faint-hearted and requires in-depth knowledge of data engineering services.

05:01

🚀 Exam Structure and Preparation Tips

The conversation shifts to the structure of the beta exam and the official exam's expected format, which will have 65 questions. The beta exam is available from November 27, 2023, to January 12, 2024, with results announced 90 days after. The hosts stress the importance of having a broad knowledge base, including solutions architect associate knowledge, before attempting the data engineer exam. They also mention the need for understanding specific AWS services like Glue, Athena, and Redshift, as well as practical SQL knowledge.

10:03

🔍 Detailed Discussion on Exam Content and Services

Neil and Brook delve deeper into the exam content, highlighting the significance of services such as Glue, Athena, Redshift, and QuickSight. They discuss the integration between these services and the importance of understanding ETL processes, data warehousing, and various AWS data-related services. The paragraph underscores the breadth of knowledge required for the exam, including the ability to answer complex SQL queries and the practical application of data engineering concepts.

15:07

🤔 Reflections on the Exam's Difficulty and Comparison to Other Certifications

The hosts share their personal experiences and reflections on the exam's difficulty, comparing it to other AWS associate-level certifications. They express surprise at the depth of knowledge required, particularly in SQL and data engineering services. They also speculate whether the beta exam's difficulty might be adjusted for the final version, based on beta tester feedback and AWS's analysis of question performance.

20:11

🛠 Final Thoughts and Study Recommendations

In the final paragraph, the hosts offer advice for those preparing to take the exam, recommending a strong foundation in SQL and familiarity with a range of AWS services. They caution against relying solely on early training materials that may not align with the final exam requirements. They also mention the upcoming release of their own practice test and video-based training to better prepare candidates for the certification.

Keywords

💡AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate

The AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate is a certification exam by Amazon Web Services (AWS) aimed at validating the skills of data engineers. It is a new certification that is currently in beta and is expected to be officially released in the spring of 2024. The certification is designed to test the knowledge of candidates in various AWS services and data engineering practices, as discussed in the video.

💡Beta Exam

A beta exam is a preliminary version of a test that is often used to gather data on the exam's difficulty and to identify any issues before the official release. In the context of the video, the hosts have taken the beta version of the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate exam and are sharing their experiences and insights about it.

💡Data Pipeline

A data pipeline refers to the process of moving and transforming data from one place to another. In the video, the hosts mention the importance of understanding data pipelines in the context of AWS services, as they are a core component of data engineering tasks that the exam covers.

💡ETL (Extract, Transform, Load)

ETL is a process in data engineering that involves extracting data from various sources, transforming it to fit the needs of the target system, and loading it into a database or a data warehouse. The video emphasizes the significance of ETL operations in the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate exam.

💡Glue

AWS Glue is a fully managed extract, transform, and load (ETL) service offered by AWS. It is one of the key services mentioned in the video as being heavily featured in the exam, highlighting the necessity for candidates to have a deep understanding of its functionalities.

💡Athena

Amazon Athena is an interactive query service that makes it easy to analyze data in Amazon S3 using standard SQL. The hosts of the video discuss Athena as one of the AWS services that candidates are expected to know well for the Data Engineer Associate exam.

💡Redshift

Amazon Redshift is a fully managed, petabyte-scale data warehouse service in the cloud. It is mentioned in the video as another critical AWS service that is relevant to the exam, particularly in the context of data warehousing and analytics.

💡SQL

SQL (Structured Query Language) is a standard language for managing and manipulating databases. The video script highlights the importance of having a good grasp of SQL for the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate exam, as it is fundamental to data engineering tasks.

💡Apache Airflow

Apache Airflow is an open-source tool used for orchestrating complex data pipelines. In the video, it is listed as one of the services that the exam covers, indicating that candidates should be familiar with workflow automation concepts.

💡QuickSight

Amazon QuickSight is a fast, cloud-powered business intelligence service that makes it easy to deliver insights to everyone in your organization. The hosts express surprise at the prominence of QuickSight in the exam, suggesting its importance in data visualization within AWS.

💡Solutions Architect Associate

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate is another AWS certification that validates an individual’s ability to design system architecture on AWS. The video recommends this certification as a prerequisite for the Data Engineer Associate exam, as it provides foundational knowledge that is beneficial for the exam.

Highlights

Introduction of the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate certification.

The certification exam is currently in beta and scheduled for official release in spring 2024.

Exam difficulty is higher than anticipated, requiring substantial data engineering experience.

Core AWS services are emphasized in the exam, particularly for data pipelines and monitoring.

The beta exam format differs and includes 85 questions to be completed in 170 minutes.

Availability of the beta exam from November 27, 2023, to January 12, 2024.

Final exam expected to have 65 questions with a more refined format.

Beta exam results will be released 90 days after the exam's closure.

The necessity for a strong understanding of data engineering services and tools.

Importance of having practical knowledge of services like Glue, Athena, and Redshift.

The exam's requirement for knowledge on structuring SQL statements and ETL operations.

The suggestion to complete the Solutions Architect Associate exam before attempting the Data Engineer Associate.

The overlap and differences between the retired AWS Data Analytics Specialty certification and the new Data Engineer Associate certification.

The exam's unexpected inclusion of complex SQL command questions.

The need for understanding the integration between various AWS services for data engineering.

The exam's surprising difficulty compared to other associate-level AWS certifications.

The importance of having a broad knowledge base in addition to specific data engineering skills.

The potential for the final exam to be less difficult than the beta version based on beta feedback.

Advice on the preparation for the exam, including the need for understanding SQL and various AWS services.

A cautionary note on the relevance and accuracy of early training materials for the exam.

The upcoming release of a practice test course and video-based training for the exam.

Encouragement for viewers to check AWS's website for more information on the certification and exam guide.

Transcripts

Hello everyone, this is Neil Davis from digital  cloud training. I'm here with Brook Seahorn,  

our chief of cloud education, and  we're here to talk about the new  

AWS associate-level certification called the  AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate. This  

exam is currently in beta and is due  to be released in the spring of 2024,  

so we have both taken this exam recently.  We've taken the beta exam, and in this video,  

we're going to give you some tips on what you  need to do to prepare for this certification.  

And as a quick sort of jump ahead, this is not an  easy certification at all. Okay, Brooks, let's get  

started with what is this exam all about. Thanks  for having me on, Neil. Yeah, this question,  

this exam itself was really interesting because,  and I think you just have already alluded to it,  

it was harder than I anticipated. It is really  a data engineer exam in its truest sense. You  

need to be a data engineer or at least have  some experience, a little bit of experience  

because you're going to be hit with a lot of  questions that really dive into the service.

Again, we were in the beta exam, so it's a  little bit different in terms of formatting. Um,  

there's a lot about the core-related core  services of AWS that were in it, um, being able  

to understand like data pipelines. I'm trying to  remember some of that monitor and troubleshooting  

alog together. You got 170 minutes, 85 questions.  It was quite the exam. I don't know about your  

experience with it, Neil. Maybe you could, when  you come back, you could speak about it. But I  

used almost every minute of that exam, just like  going, "Wait a second, did that make s?" If you're  

interested in taking it, it was originally  started on November 27th of this year 2023,  

and it's going to close officially on the 12th  of January 2024, so that's your limit in terms  

of being able to get into the exam. Um, I think  on that one, the standard is going to be coming  

out in April of 2024, so you can register the  month before in March, but April is when you'll  

be able to take the final exam, which should have  65 questions, probably a little bit less time,  

but will become a much more tightened up exam.  Now, the one thing about the beta is this.

If you do take it and you're like, "How did I  do?" it's going to be 90 days from the close  

of the exam, again, January 12th, 2024, before  you find out your results. So at the earliest,  

you're looking at April 11th, something  like that, of 2024 before you find out how  

you did. And I don't want to know how I did  because I don't feel great about it. Neil,  

how did you feel about the exam? What  was your take on it? How did you kind  

of go in? Were you surprised by it,  the subject matter, anything like that?

Well, the short answer is yes, I was surprised  by it. I did find it challenging. Now, you know,  

I come from a Solutions Architect background,  so many years working as a Solutions Architect.  

I'm very well-versed with many of the  data engineering services and tools,  

but I'm not a data engineer. So, you know, I  understand things like with databases, you know,  

which database to use for a relational  versus non-relational or a use case like  

online transaction processing or online analytics  processing. But in this exam, there were a lot of  

very data engineering questions. So obviously,  that's exactly what they're trying to do.

They're trying to make it very data  engineering-oriented because that is the  

job role that this certification is for, okay,  that's obvious. But here you go, the thing is,  

I found that the easiest associate certification  for me was the developer associate. Now I'm an  

architect. I'm not a developer. I don't  write a lot of code, and yet I found the  

developer associate the easiest of the three  current associates defications. Likewise,  

I found the DevOps professional exam easier than  Solutions Architect professional exam. So I wasn't  

really that sure how difficult it was going to  be until I got in there. When I got in there,  

I found it was very difficult. There was a lot of  stuff in there that I just did not know. A lot of  

stuff like, you know, really needing to know how  to structure sequel statements. You need to know a  

lot of services like Glue, Athena, and Redshift  in a lot of detail. We're talking practical  

knowledge of how to build out catalogs, form  certain clauses for in your search parameters,  

setting up schemas using ETL (extract, transform,  and load), all those sorts of operations. So yeah,  

I found it quite difficult. What about  you, Brooks? How did you find the exam?

I did too, and the thing was, is you actually took  it two days before me, so you kind of gave me a  

preview. So as I was stepping into it, I was like,  he wasn't kidding, this is a bit nutty. Because,  

for example, um, I did do a lot of database stuff  because you know my career started back in 2000.  

We, and in shops like that at that time, you did  everything. So yes, I was a developer, engineer.  

I was also the Exchange 55 administrator, running  the email and doing some database work. So I've  

got some familiarity with it. I've done it, but  it's just so surprising to see in an exam like  

that, what is the correct select statement, and  you're like, oh, that has nothing to do with AWS.  

That's like core knowledge of a data engineer.  That is core knowledge of CSV versus Apache Park,  

things like that, which one has better  performance. Wow, I, that really surprised me. And  

I tell you, the other one that really surprised  me, Neil, was when I got to the questions. They  

said where they were starting to talk about  things like, here are the ports open on the  

security group, and I was like, oh my goodness,  this is right into Arc associate. And then I think  

the one that really, really floored me was when  there was a question concerning a Transit Gateway.

Turns out, I think it was a blinder in the  exam. Who knows if they'll leave it in there,  

but still, I think it is sort of wrong with me.  You really need to know the fundamentals like  

SAA Solutions architect associate. You need that  knowledge before you step into this exam. And so,  

if you're a database person, if you really  are a data engineer, you're going to need  

that knowledge. You're probably going to  do okay. The other direction where you're  

just an arc associate, and you're going to go  sit this exam, you may have a tough time with  

those database questions and some of those things  you just don't expect. So that was my overall,  

and that really just surprised me. Just quickly,  I'd say one of the tips there for people who want  

to take this exam, and you really alluded to it,  there is do the solutions architect associate  

first at a minimum. There are some questions in  there, for instance, around pipelines like code  

commit popped up a couple of times. Yes, so you  might even need to know some of the stuff from  

the developer associate. My pathway through  the free Associates was always the solutions  

architect associate, do the developer, then do  the ssops because it's the hardest of the three,  

right? No longer is that the case. Now I'd say do  those three, then do the data engineer associate.

But at a minimum, if you have a lot of  data engineering knowledge, just do the  

solutions architect associate first because as  you said there's stuff like interface endpoints,  

VPC endpoints, Transit gateways, uh, S3 event  notifications, the standard that you find on  

the SAA exam all the time that comes up as well.  So you don't want to get tripped up on that just  

because you're, you know, too focused on data  engineering itself. So you need that broader  

knowledge as well as the very engineering  specific knowledge. Yeah, like for example,  

if you don't understand EBS volumes and choosing  the right one based on the requirements,  

this thing is going to trip you up. Because  normally I would think a data engineer, a  

data scientist would just say give me an EC2 blah  blah blah blah, put me this big a volume on it,  

and then that's all they say. And then somebody's  actually giving it to them where on this exam,  

they're saying you're talking about persisting  the drive in snapshots of the EBS volume and  

things like that, stuff normally I don't think  a data engineer would be getting into. So if  

you are a data engineer, do the SAA. It'll do  you a world of good. That was a great way to  

put it too Neil because I was going to ask  you next, sort of how could you get ready,  

and I think what you just said there  is probably the best path forward.

Do the SAA, do the Dev because there's stuff  from Dev in there, ssops you should just know,  

and then you might be ready to get started  into it. I think that's a great path through if  

you're already a data engineer like and if you're  working in AWS. I spoke to a good friend of mine,  

Chris, who is a data scientist, a real deal data  scientist. He doesn't work in AWS, he has a lot  

of data engineer knowledge, but there's no way  he could pass this exam, even though he's a true  

blue scientist, knows amazing and can do amazing  things with data. It's not going to work. You need  

to have the AWS knowledge. I absolutely think,  like, I think what was funny about that going  

back to the data side was the whole thing that we,  you and I both ran into. I think when we started  

seeing things like vacuum, that to me was a trip  because it was like vacuum like what does that  

even mean? If you're not in data engineering, you  can't do it. Tell me how you ran into that one,  

Neil. What did your exam prompt you with  if you can remember when you hit the VAC?

Yeah, well, obviously, we can't give away  too much on what exactly we saw in the exam,  

but at the same time, we want to maintain the  integrity of the exam, of course. But I can  

give you some sort of ideas of the sorts of things  that you need to know in order to set this exam.  

And yeah, knowing which vacuum command to run  on a database is definitely one of those tips.

Now, I haven't got a clue, so I definitely  would not get any questions correct in  

relation to that particular topic. But yeah,  that's one of the sort of things that came up,  

as you mentioned a bit before, Apache Parquet.  You really need to know what Apache Parquet is;  

it's a file format, and that's something that  you really need to know. It pops up quite a lot,  

and so understand what the benefits are and  why you might want to convert to using that  

system format. There's a lot of different  services here. I would say that the key ones  

that just you really got to know inside out  would be Glue, Athena, Redshift. We've got a  

few of the Apache products like CFus, Spark,  Flink, Ranger—they popped up. Um, K Airflow,  

no, Apache Airflow, and Anow as well. So some of  those newer services there. So those are some of  

the services that come up quite often. Definitely,  maybe the core would be Athena and Glue, as well  

as Redshift. I saw a lot of questions asking  about those specific services. So you really  

got to understand the various different processes  using things like Glue Data Catalog, Data Brew,  

using workflows, using ETL (extract, transform,  and load) into different destination databases,  

data warehousing—lots and lots of topics,  lots and lots of questions on those subjects.

Exactly, you really hit the head with that list  you gave there, and not only that but I think  

the thing that surprised me about the exam too  was how much they were talking about integration  

between the services. For example, using event  scheduler and then there was going to be a red  

shift and then something about Athena and then  something about QuickSight. So you had all of  

these things together in one question. So it  really is like you can't just be too focused  

on one or two products like Glue; you really need  to understand the suite of products that they have  

available in that data sort of space in order to  be successful on this exam. It was surprising. I  

don't have El to say it was a surprising  exam. I thought it was going to be easy;  

I thought I was going to knock it out of the  park. But it is not. It's because of that  

really special knowledge that you've got to have.  I think one of the services that really surprised  

me more than anything else was how much Glue  came into it. I don't want to say the number,  

a large number of Glue questions. Did you see  the same sort of thing Neil? Exactly the same,  

yeah. Glue with Athena, of course, coming up quite  often. Yeah, those were two of the top services.  

And I think the other one that I'm not surprised  now that I think about it was QuickSight.

For those of you who don't know what QuickSight  is, it's a really nice visualization system built  

into AWS where you can give it a data backend  and create really nice front ends to your data,  

really nice front ends, stuff that normally  would be really hard and would take a lot of  

time to get straight. I was surprised to see how  much it would come in there, I really was, but in  

these total solutions that they were trying to put  together and put to you and say, is this the right  

way forward, that showed up quite a bit. So it was  nice to see. I didn't get anything too deep on it;  

it was just there. It was almost like a, you  know, it made me even more nervous, like wow,  

this thing is out of control. I don't even  know what's going on with this thing anymore.

One thing I wanted to go back to you that I  was really surprised about again were those  

SQL commands that I saw, Neil. As somebody  like yourself who has never dealt with data,  

how would you even think to yourself, like,  how would I approach this if I wanted to be  

able to do it? Do you think it's the thing  where you need to take like a SQL course?  

It was that much, or I mean just how was  your approach to it? What did you think,  

particularly as a non-data person  when you saw that particular question?

Yeah, honestly, I didn't know how to answer  those questions because I know some very basic  

SQL commands, but when it gets a little bit more  complex, I've just never done that. That's never  

been my job role, so it's not really the sort  of questions, well, if you're not prepared,  

it's not the sort of question where you can have  a look at it and say, "Well, let's work this  

out logically." Now, I can do that with a lot of  questions or just through my experience with AWS;  

I can eliminate certain things. But I found quite  a few questions on this exam where I wasn't able  

to follow that approach. I wasn't able to  eliminate easily, and I wasn't able to just  

work through logically to try and come up with  the answer. I was just missing the knowledge,  

and that's all there was to it. So, yes, um,  yeah, I think stuff like SQL, you've definitely  

got to understand your SQL, um, running SQL  queries, um, how you can search databases,  

um, and perform bar different transactions. It  probably is a case of going and maybe watching  

a few YouTube videos on that, and finding, I'm  sure there's plenty of good subject matter out  

there that you can utilize. Absolutely. Yeah,  and that was the thing I that got me about it  

was even though I've done, I've done SQL select  statements forever, you know, that was just,  

you know, creating views so we could quickly pull  data. There were some things in it I'd never seen  

before, and I was like, I've never seen that type  of select before where no free WIS here folks.

I'm gonna stick with Neil; we're not going  to compromise, nothing but it was basically  

a select statement with a very interesting  WHERE clause in it. Like I'd never seen a  

WHERE clause done like that before, so it  was unusual, it was different, and it makes  

me think even though I've done it for a long  time, I too probably need to go out and brush  

up on my SQL if I really wanted to go into this  exam and feel confident about what I was doing.

One of the things that comes to mind is  that recently AWS decided to retire the  

AWS data analytics specialty certification,  and just as they retired the data analytics  

specialty specification, they come out  with the data engineer associate. Now,  

of course, there is quite a bit of overlap  between these two, so I'm thinking that AWS  

saw that there was a bit more demand in the  data engineering versus data analytics. And,  

you know, there is overlap, but there are  differences between those job roles. However,  

I can't help but think that this exam felt a  little bit more like it should be a specialty  

level exam versus an associate level exam. Again,  if I was a data engineer, maybe I wouldn't feel  

that way; maybe it would be a bit easier, and  I would feel it was on par with the others,  

but to me, it felt quite a bit harder. What's  your thought in terms of how it compares to the  

other associate-level certifications?  I'm gonna agree with you completely.

Honestly, with my knowledge, I've done AWS  for a while. Everyone, when I sit like the Arc  

Associate, um, I can almost think my way through  it. Like I can really hit a question, get lost,  

do some, you know, that's definitely not it,  that's definitely not it. It's between C and D,  

D looks like the better solution. So I can think  my way through a lot of these things, same thing  

with the DevOps. Sis Ops was pretty tough. Sis Ops  was pretty tough. I was really surprised by it.  

But this one, by far and away, leaves them behind.  This is not that associate feel. I'm hoping this  

isn't like a preview of things to come with the  associate exam because if it is, we're about to  

see them all get upgraded in a major way where  you've really got to have much stronger knowledge  

in order to be able to sit these. What I wanted  to ask you, could it be that it was a beta exam  

and so they really threw the big stuff at us?  One thing about the betas is there are questions  

in there; they will go back and look at it and  go everyone missed this question or one of the  

things you can do in the betas, obviously, is on a  question. I did this quite a bit; you can stop and  

do a comment, and that's what I did. I commented  on a lot of questions, having been at AWS,  

I kind of get the process of what they were going  through, so a little bit of inside knowledge.

So I write back to them. Here's what I'm thinking:  maybe you went wrong with this one because I can't  

figure this out. It doesn't feel right; it's a  bit too wordy. So I think with some of those,  

I would expect them to come out, Neil, and maybe  it would get a little bit easier in the version  

we saw. If they stick to it, though, this is  something else. This is not, "Okay, you're  

going to be an associate," but this has got a  completely different feel to it. I would say this  

thing could almost become really exclusive. Like  if you've got it, you really know your stuff to be  

able to pass it. I do think you're right that it's  probably going to be a bit easier when it comes to  

the final exam. The, as you say, they throw in a  lot of questions, and what they're going to do is  

they're going to take a lot of data away from the  beta, and then they're going to have a look and  

see from their analytics which questions were just  a bit too hard and which ones were a bit too easy,  

perhaps. And they find some kind of medium. I  don't know exactly how they do that, but that's  

essentially at a basic level. I think that's the  process that they're following so that they can  

then get the exam to be the right level. So at the  moment, probably, it would have felt a bit harder,  

maybe quite a bit harder than the final one  will. It remains to be seen when it's actually  

released next year, so we'll have to wait until at  least April to see what people say at that time.

But yeah, as you say, for now, it certainly  felt like quite a hard exam. I'm looking  

forward to going back and trying to take it  again. There's no way I passed it; everybody,  

no way I passed that thing, that was something  else. I don't know how much time we got left,  

so I wanted to ask you about this,  Neil. You kind of mentioned already,  

but I really want to give people this kind of,  you know, in a nice box, in a bow. If somebody  

is going to get ready for this exam going forward,  knowing that it may be March or April before they  

take the final instead of what we're doing with  the beta, again, could you sort of recap for us  

some of the things they really need to be  thinking about, and especially stuff where,  

you know, maybe you feel like they should  take another course, complete course first  

before even diving into some of these services?  Yes, so we've talked about SQL; you certainly  

need to know your SQL commands. You're going to  need to understand a lot of services at a very  

operational level from that data engineering  point of view. Towards services like Glue and  

Athena and Redshift, which come up a lot. Airflow  and Apache Airflow, you're looking at Amazon MSK,  

step functions as well. That's something you  need to understand the various different wait  

states and how to use step functions.  ETL, you know, lots of questions on ETL.

And then some of those Apache products which run  on AWS as well, like Kafka and Spark and Flink  

and Ranger, they popped up. Kinesis, you'll need  to know Object Lambda, so the various different  

sort of data engineering concepts related to some  of those very popular AWS Services. Data Sync,  

Data Pipeline, Data Exchange as well. Even  Amazon EKS. So what can you do to prepare? Well,  

at this point in time, there's not a lot of  training out there, and the training that has  

started appearing, some of which appeared before  the beta exam was even released, it may well be  

perfectly good. I'm not sure. I would just caution  that any training that comes out before the exam  

has actually been released may not be well aligned  with the actual requirements of the exam. You  

can't just look at the exam guide and work out how  to create a training course from it. So I mean,  

we've certainly seen that. We've looked at the  exam guide; we've gone into the exam. The exam is  

very different from what I expected it to be based  on reading the exam guide. So I would just caution  

that the training courses that have come out super  early, watch out; they might not be aligned with  

the exam. They could be useful; they might help  you to a certain extent, but don't rely on them  

completely. You can go and, of course, have a  look at the exam guide; it will help you a bit.

So have a look through there, understand  which services come up. Then also check  

the article that we're going to link to  this video because we're going to write  

up some of what we've talked about  today, some tips on which services,  

what sort of facts you want to know, and  we'll be coming out with our own practice  

test course very soon as well and then  subsequently our video-based training once  

we understand more about this exam and what  it's going to look like in its final form.

Absolutely, and by the way, if you want to get  some more information now, like absolutely,  

you can always go out to AWS's website. You  can check out the AWS Certified Data Engineer  

Associate page, go through it. This is for the  beta, so it's not quite there, but you can also  

look at what they're sort of looking in terms of  the exam guide, and this is great. And by the way,  

for anyone who was listening to this and  went, "There's no way they could ask about  

all those different services in this exam,"  if you scroll all the way to the bottom,  

they start listing out the services that you  need to feel comfortable with, and you can see  

it is quite a bit. They're not playing around with  this exam. So if you're going to take this, just  

be wary. The out-of-scope is like one page; then  there's pages of in-scope services. So just be  

aware of that and understand that Neil just put it  to you as plainly as possible; it's quite a bit.

Make sure you're okay with understanding  AWS, you understand the basic services,  

you understand the basics of data engineering,  things like SQL before you even try to walk in  

and start studying for this. And yes, be careful;  some of the training material out there came out  

way too early, and Neil and I have been doing  this for many, many years already, and so when  

we get surprised, it's a surprising situation.  So just be careful. So that's it for this video,  

guys. Make sure that you like this video if  you enjoyed the content and subscribe to our  

channel. We're going to be bringing out many  more videos like this and giving you some more  

insights and tips on various AWS certification  exams. Thanks, Brooks. Okay, bye-bye, everybody.