1.2. Core DevOps First Principles

This module introduces the foundational truths that govern modern DevOps. Each principle — from automation and CI/CD to resilience and security — is a cornerstone for building and operating high-performance cloud systems on AWS.

Why start with principles instead of jumping straight to services? Imagine trying to learn chess by memorizing every possible board position — you'd never finish, and you'd have no idea what to do when you encounter a position you haven't seen. Instead, you learn principles: control the center, develop your pieces, protect your king. Those principles let you evaluate ANY position.

AWS DevOps works the same way. There are hundreds of services and thousands of configuration options. Without principles, every exam question feels like a new puzzle. With principles, patterns emerge: "This is a feedback loop problem" or "This violates the immutability principle." What happens when you skip this foundation? You struggle with scenario questions that combine multiple services in unfamiliar ways — which is exactly what the DOP-C02 does.

Consider a production outage at 3 AM. The engineer who memorized runbooks follows steps until the steps don't match reality, then freezes. The engineer who understands first principles — observability, blast radius, immutable infrastructure — adapts in real time. That's the difference this module builds.