A question I get many times is "where to start with AWS?" or "What certification to do first?".

As a result, I thought of creating a short thread about it. Read more below.

First of all, why an AWS certification? They demonstrate that you are capable of building scalable applications in AWS.

It can also open new opportunities for you.

You can join can join exclusive communities such as the AWS Certified Global Community.

And many more.

If you don't have experience with cloud computing, I suggest starting with AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner.

I know, it's not as impressive as others, but it gives you a solid foundation to pursue other certifications. It helps you familiarize with the test environment as well.

With the Cloud Practitioner you learn:

> What AWS Cloud is
> Basic AWS Cloud architectural principles
> Basic security and compliance aspects of the AWS platform and the shared security model
> Billing, account management, and pricing models

And many more. I did it as well.

Now you can either do the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate or AWS Certified Developer Associate.
There is a lot of overlap between the two.

The Solutions Architect gives you a broad overview of all AWS services, and it also focuses on core services like IAM, VPC, S3.

The Certified Solutions Architect Associate aims to help you understand how to build services and application on their cloud infrastructure.

The Developer Associate goes deeper into services like SQS, SNS, DynamoDB and Elastic Beanstalk. It teaches you how to build using AWS.

Thus, a few paths could be:

* Cloud Practitioner > Solutions Architect Associate > Developer Associate

* Cloud Practitioner > Developer Associate > Solutions Architect Associate

* Solutions Architect Associate > Developer Associate or the other way around

After that, you can have a look at professional certifications which are out of scope at the moment.

Also, feel free to add more below.