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Bartosz Gajda
Bartosz Gajda

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5 best study resources for GCP ACE exam

Recently, I have finally had a chance to attempt an exam for Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer certification and I have passed in first attempt! This achievement has been possible, thanks to thorough preparation, during which I have used a selection of resources. In this post I will be sharing with you 5 of those that I think have contributed the most to the positive outcome of the GCP ACE exam. Enjoy!

1. Official GCP ACE Study Guide

The first element on the list is probably the most comprehensive source of knowledge you can get to prepare for GCP ACE exam. This book consists of 18 chapters, each covering a large chunk of knowledge you have to possess in order to pass the exam. Chapters include screenshots, so you can easily recreate the steps shown on the paper. Each of those chapters is finished with 20 question mini-exam, that reflects quite good the questions you might encounter on real assignment.

In addition to that, you also get two full practice exams and around 100 flashcards. The flashcards are especially useful in the learning process, but I know it’s quite personal thing.

This books costs typically around £25, which I think is really good bang for the buck.

2. A Cloud Guru Course

The second source I have used was A Cloud Guru course on GCP ACE certification exam. I have used the Udemy to get it, but you can also buy it from an official page (it’s probably better to buy at the source).

The course is quite comprehensive, especially the GKE and Kubernetes related chapters. It takes around 10–12 hours to complete, depending on your studying pace. This course also covers all the chapters like the book, but it comes in much more practical fashion.

Online courses have big advantage over written word, as it is easier to follow what the instructor is doing and getting hands-on experience of the platform.

The price of this course varies — I got it on Udemy for around £15, but that was during sale (which thankfully are quite often on Udemy). If you buy it directly, it is going to cost you a bit more.

3. Linux Academy Course

Another online course comes from Linux Academy. They are known for their high-quality exam prep course and this one is no exception. It takes a bit longer than A Cloud Guru one but in my opinion it’s for the better.

This course covers all of the exam study points (as all of the above sources) but in my personal opinion, does the best work of showing how to actually use the GCP in practice. The lessons are optimally sized and the instructor does a great job of explaining the inner workings of Google Cloud services.

This course is at the time of writing only available on Linux Academy site. The best option there is to go with membership — that will cost you \$49 per month.

4. Google Code Labs

Google Code Labs is my personal favourite on this list. This site is a collection of labs that are completely free and guide you step by step how to implement a real-world solution or application on Google Cloud Platform.

There is a broad selection of labs, covering more Google services than you actually need to pass the ACE exam. Each lab shows you the exact steps you have to complete, in order to finish with complete and working solution to a selected problem (like deploying a Spring Web app on Google App Engine).

It is a great resource not only for ACE exam but for any Google Cloud certification.

5. Google Qwiklabs

The last resource on the list is probably well known to anyone preparing for GCP Associate Cloud Engineer exam. The Qwiklabs provides a so called ‘quests’ which are a form of labs that guide you Google Cloud Platform and show the underlying fundamentals of this environment.

It’s quite comprehensive, although I wouldn’t risk attempting the exam after the Qwiklabs only, but it serves as great supporting material.

Summary

I hope you have found this post useful. If so, don’t hesitate to like or share this post. Additionally, you can follow me on my social media if you fancy so 🙂

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