Key points

• CDK defines reusable infrastructure constructs in code and synthesizes them into CloudFormation templates.
• The synthesized stacks retain CloudFormation deployment, rollback, and lifecycle boundaries.

Best-known use cases

• Define pipeline infrastructure with familiar programming languages.
• Reuse constructs for standardized data-platform deployments.

What candidates often confuse it with

• CDK suits code-defined reusable constructs; CloudFormation is declarative and SAM focuses on serverless applications.

Key takeaway

Choose CDK when teams need reusable code abstractions while preserving CloudFormation governance.

Relevant exam tasks

• D1.4 — Task 1.4: Apply programming concepts
• 1.4.8 — Use infrastructure as code (IaC) for repeatable resource deployment (for example, AWS CloudFormation and AWS CDK).

Learn more

• DEA-C01 in-scope services
• DEA-C01 Domain 1: Data Ingestion and Transformation