I officially finished the DPG Developer Academy. The last 16 weeks were split into two clear parts: getting certified and building software. We started with heavy theory and exams, then shifted to a 6-week Scrum project to apply everything in a real AWS environment. Here is how it went.
The Certification Phase (10 Weeks)
The first phase of the academy was all about building a solid foundation. The rhythm was consistent: deep focus on study, passing the exam, and then immediately applying the knowledge in a "practical" period. Since I have already written detailed posts about these, I will keep it brief here:
Java Associate 8: We kicked off with the core language. After less than two weeks of prep, we sat for the exam, followed by two weeks of practical application. (I touched on this in From 42 to DPG).
Docker: Next was containerization. The prep time was shorter, but the structure remained the same. (Read more in Docker at DPG).
AWS: We finished the learning phase with a deep dive into AWS. (See my takeaways in What finally clarified AWS Security Specialty for me). After the exam, the practical phase focused on Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using CloudFormation. We set up pipelines and deployed RDS and Docker containers, before changing to use Lambda functions instead of Docker in the final few days.
The Scrum Project (6 Weeks)
After passing all certificate exams, we spent the final six weeks working in a Scrum team. We were assigned a Product Owner and a clear mission: build a scalable AWS infrastructure with Java. The core flow was event-driven—an SQS queue received events, triggering a Lambda function (written in Java) to transform the data and store it in a database.
We worked in three 2-week sprints, mirroring a real agile environment:
Sprint 1: Infrastructure & Pipeline The focus was on information gathering and setting the groundwork. We learned Terraform to define our infrastructure as code, with a strict emphasis on security—every IAM role and policy was crafted following the principle of least privilege. We also set up the CI/CD pipeline and the core services (SQS, Lambda, DynamoDB) that were up and talking to each other at the end of this sprint.
Sprint 2: Logic & Documentation We expanded the Java code to handle more complex event processing. Simultaneously, we focused on documentation—both general and technical—ensuring that what we built was maintainable and understandable for anyone jumping into the project.
Sprint 3: Quality & Refactoring The final push was about robustness. We integrated a full suite of tests into the pipeline: unit, integration, and smoke tests. We also did a major refactor of the Java application, strictly applying DRY, SOLID, and KISS principles. Since we used Hexagonal Architecture from the start, separating the business logic from the AWS adapters was clean and efficient.
Conclusion
The academy wasn't just about collecting certificates; it was about bridging the gap between theory and deployment. Building a serverless application with full monitoring, alarms, and a secure pipeline gave me a realistic view of modern cloud engineering.
A massive thank you to my fellow trainees: Oliver, Sarah, Flynn, Jan, Sven, Adam, Charli and Cheyenne for making these weeks not just educational, but genuinely fun and enjoyable.
I am proud to say I have successfully graduated and am thrilled to be one of the six trainees selected to join DPG Media as a developer.