Hi 👋
I recently passed the last and final AWS certifications. I am now fully AWS certified with all 12 certifications under my belt. Software engineers from all different levels frequently asked me how I learned AWS and how they should get started.

Of course, this article includes resources to get certified but is not limited to only certifications. Anyone from afraid of learning AWS to a professional who wants to get more AWS services knowledge will get something out of this article.

This will be a Q&A-style post where all the questions are collected from comments, tweets, replies, and my DM. If your question is missing, feel free to ask in the comment. If you want to stay anonymous, ask me in my Twitter DM.

Let's get answers to your questions. ⁉️

Q&As

I am a newbie; how can I start learning AWS?

You can start your learning with AWS Skillbuilders. Many courses, quizzes, and fun games are available for FREE. A fun little game named "Cloud Quotes" exists for beginners. You will get much more in the premium subscription, including self-paced labs.

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I don't have an AWS account, OR, I don't have a card to open AWS, OR, I am afraid of bills. Is there something to gain practical experience?

You can try AWS Educate; it has a lot of courses and labs. It's not the best, but it's FREE.

If you want something more subtle but you are willing to pay for it, here are some self-paced labs you can get subscribed to practice. (You need just one of those, not all):

1. Whizlabs's AWS Sandbox:
   🔗: https://www.whizlabs.com/aws-sandbox/

   

   They have affordable 1-6 months packages. You can definitely try that on.

2. DigitalCloud Training's AWS Hands-on Challenge Labs
   🔗: https://digitalcloud.training/aws-hands-on-challenge-labs/

   

   This one also has 12-month one-time payment labs. This one can be a good choice for you.

3. KodeKloud's AWS Sandbox Playground
   🔗: https://kodekloud.com/playgrounds/playground-aws

   

   You will get this sandbox with their premium subscription. This one is more affordable than the above two, and this one has lots of premium DevOps courses. Why is this not number one on the list? I have never tried this AWS Sandbox Playground.

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Is there a Workshop style content where I can follow along to deploy apps on the AWS Cloud?

Yes, there is. AWS Workshops is here to help you with that. This website has 100+ workshop-style content, where you can follow step-by-step instructions to deploy different types of apps and infrastructures. You might find your favorite apps there. And they are adding new workshops regularly.

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I'm into Serverless. Is there a place to learn about Serverless architecture on the AWS cloud?

Yes, Serverless Land has different types of AWS Serverless content. It's an all-in-one place to get videos, blog posts, code, the latest information on what is happening in the industry, and how to build fully managed auto-scalable serverless architecture.

Can I get some premium, very organized courses?

Yes, there are courses from a couple of educators I can't recommend enough.

1. Adrian Cantrill:
   🔗: https://learn.cantrill.io

   

   Adrian has a wide variety of AWS and other DevOps courses. His AWS courses seem to focus on AWS Certifications. While it's true but don't make that fool you, he has a very in-depth course, and it's for everyone. Want to get certified or not? I can't recommend his course enough to enrich your AWS knowledge, no matter if you are a beginner or an intermediate.

2. Stephan Maarek:
   🔗: https://courses.datacumulus.com

   

   He has arguably the best courses to get AWS Certified. His courses are on point; you will get enough information to pass a certification exam. He has a few other AWS course that doesn't focus on certifications. You can still follow his course even if you don't want to get certified.

I want to Get Certified; what resources should I follow?

Congratulation in advance for coming this far. Here are a few things I always follow to get certified:

1. AWS Certifications website: It has every detail about how to prepare for an exam. It has what to expect in the exam, a preparation guide, an example question set, and lots of other resources. I recommend this website first when you decide to sit for an exam.
   🔗: https://aws.amazon.com/certification/

2. Courses: Follow courses from both Adrian Cantrill and Stephan Maarek courses, if available, for that particular AWS Certification exam. Besides that, there are courses in skillbuilders.aws on topics included in the exam; you can follow those too.

3. Practice Tests: Once you are fully ready for the exam, you might want to test your knowledge before sitting in the exam. AWS provides a FREE practice test; check the AWS Certifications website for the exam you are preparing for.

   Besides that, TutorialsDojo provides practice exam sets with detailed explanations, which I always recommend to boost your confidence.

Let me know on Twitter how you are preparing for your certification exam. And don't forget to tweet mentioning me once you pass the exam. 🚀

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Conclusion

I tried to cover every question I got over the years. If you have a question not covered in this post, ask in the comment or in Twitter, and I will definitely answer those questions.

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I'm searching for the next topic to cover in this blog; if you have an idea, tweet me. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter, and I regularly tweet about AWS, Laravel, Cloud, PHP, and various other Software Engineering topics.