1.2. Core Cloud Development First Principles

💡 First Principle: Great cloud developers don't memorize services — they internalize a small set of principles that let them reason about any AWS service they encounter.

What happens when you encounter an AWS service you've never seen on exam day? If you've only memorized facts, you're stuck. But if you understand why automation matters, why observability exists, and why serverless changes the cost equation, you can reason your way to the correct answer. These six principles are your reasoning toolkit.

Imagine these principles as a compass. Individual services are landmarks that change over time, but the compass always points true. When a question asks "which approach best..." the answer almost always aligns with one of these principles.