DEV Community: Ronit Sachdev

I Procrastinated on AWS SAA for a Year. Here's How I Finally Passed!

Ronit Sachdev — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 02:49:42 +0000

I recently passed the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) with a 755.

That sentence hides the embarrassing part: I started preparing about a year ago. Most of that year wasn't studying, it was buying materials, half-finishing notes, feeling overwhelmed by the scope, and postponing the exam. Repeatedly.

This isn't a "how I aced AWS" post. It's a "how I stopped running away from it" post — for everyone with a practice-exam subscription they've never opened and a booking they've moved three times.

The year of not studying

My cycle looked like this:

Buy a course / make notes → feel productive
Open the syllabus → see VPC, 35+ services, four domains → feel overwhelmed
Decide "I'll book it once I'm ready"
Never become ready
Repeat

Here's what I learned the hard way: "ready" never arrives. SAA's scope is wide enough that there's always another topic you feel shaky about. Waiting for readiness is a loop with no exit condition.

The turning point (not a motivational one)

I'd love to say I found discipline. Actually, my exam voucher situation made it impossible to postpone again. The deadline became immovable — and my brain flipped from "study until ready, then book" to "the date is fixed, work backwards from it."

If you take one thing from this post: book the exam first. A fixed date converts anxiety into a plan.

What actually worked

With limited time, memorization was off the table. I optimized for understanding + decision patterns instead.

1. Learn services by the problem they solve

Every AWS service exists to kill one specific pain. Anchor it with an analogy and it sticks:

Multi-AZ = a spare tire. Saves you from a blowout; doesn't make the car faster (the standby is never readable).
Read Replicas = extra checkout lanes. Handle more shoppers; nobody changes your tire automatically.
Route 53 = a phonebook. Tells you where to go, never carries your traffic.
NAT Gateway = a receptionist mailing letters for you. Outbound only; nobody can mail their way in.

2. Drill the two-way decisions, not the trivia

Almost every SAA question reduces to "which of these two similar things fits?" So I made tables of the classic showdowns and the signal keywords that decide them:

Multi-AZ vs Read Replicas (availability vs read scaling)
Gateway vs Interface Endpoints vs NAT (and "free" always matters)
SQS vs SNS vs Kinesis vs EventBridge (tray / megaphone / rewindable river / router)
S3 storage classes (frequency → retrieval time → minimum duration, then cheapest survivor)

3. Practice tests + reviewing every miss = the real engine

My first practice test: 53%. Passing needs ~72%. I genuinely spiraled for an evening.

Then I reviewed every miss and found something surprising: most weren't knowledge gaps — they were reading failures. Skipping the qualifier in the last sentence. Checking only one of two stated requirements. Missing a single poisoned word in an option ("serverless" next to EC2, "immediately" on a KMS key deletion).

I kept a "my mistakes" file: every miss logged with the fact I lacked and the reading rule that would have caught it. Second practice test: 73%.

4. The reading rules I carried into the exam room

Read the question's last sentence first — "MOST cost-effective" vs "LEAST operational overhead" vs "highly available" decides between the two plausible finalists.
Count the requirements. "X as well as Y" is a checklist; there's always a trap option that solves only X beautifully.
Scan options for poison words — automatically, at no cost, immediately, directly, cannot/always. A true fact welded to one false word is the exam's favorite distractor.
Twin options (identical except one clause): the entire question lives in that clause.
Unknown service in an option? If every option you do know is clearly wrong, the boring unfamiliar one is the answer. Real features sound specific and dull; fabricated ones sound impressive and vague.

The lows, documented

Seeing 53% and thinking "what did I even do for a year"
The pre-exam evening when every new practice question felt like proof I'd fail
Fumbling a last-minute exam-time change (morning slots > evening slots if waiting makes you anxious, know yourself)
Walking out convinced I'd failed. That feeling means nothing. You remember only the brutal questions, and 15 of the 65 aren't even scored. The pass email arrived the same evening.

Result

Passing is 720. Nobody will ever ask the number — the cert line reads the same as a 900.

The 30 free minutes I didn't know about (don't make my mistake)

If English is not your first language and you take the exam in English, AWS gives you 30 extra minutes — for free — just by asking. It's called the "ESL +30" accommodation, and I only learned about it after my exam. I sat a 130-minute exam that could have been 160.

The catch that bites people: you must request it BEFORE scheduling your exam. It cannot be added to an appointment you've already booked.

How to get it (takes two minutes):

Sign in at aws.training/Certification → your Account
Request Exam Accommodations → Request Accommodation
Accommodation type: "ESL +30 MINUTES" → Create
Then book your exam

Best part: you request it once and it applies to all your future AWS exams automatically. If you're a non-native speaker reading this before booking — go do it right now, then come back.

If you're where I was

Book the date. Today. Readiness is a feeling that follows commitment, not the other way around.
Take a practice test early and let it hurt. A low score is a map of where the points are, not a verdict on you.
Treat every miss as treasure. Ask why you missed it — knowledge or reading? — and write it down. You will never miss it the same way twice.
Prefer analogies and decision tables over memorization. The exam tests judgment, not recall.
Don't trust the post-exam dread.

Free resource

I turned my prep into 38 topic guides (explanation from zero with analogies → exam traps → question patterns → pocket cheat-tables) and open-sourced them:

https://github.com/RonitSachdev/aws-saa-c03-guides

If they help you pass, pay it forward. And if you're currently in month eleven of "I'll book it when I'm ready", this post is your sign.

How to Undo in Claude Code?

Ronit Sachdev — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 07:44:48 +0000

Made a mistake with Claude Code? Here's how to undo any operation in just 3 steps using ccundo.

No more wasting tokens asking Claude to fix things. No more manual file restoration. Just quick, safe undo.

Step 1: Install ccundo

First, install ccundo globally:

npm install -g ccundo

That's it. Zero configuration needed.

Step 2: See What to Undo

Navigate to any directory where you've used Claude Code and check the operation history:

ccundo list

You'll see all Claude Code operations:

Operations from Claude Code session:

1. [ACTIVE] file_edit - 2m ago
   ID: toolu_01XYZ...
   File: /project/src/app.js

2. [ACTIVE] file_create - 5m ago
   ID: toolu_01ABC...
   File: /project/src/utils.js

3. [ACTIVE] bash_command - 7m ago
   ID: toolu_01DEF...
   Command: npm install express

Want to see exactly what will change? Preview it:

ccundo preview

You'll get a detailed diff:

📋 Preview: Would undo 1 operation(s):

1. file_edit - 2m ago
   Will revert file: /project/src/app.js

   - const newFeature = true;
   + const newFeature = false;
     console.log('App started');

Step 3: Safely Undo

Now undo the operation:

ccundo undo

Interactive selection with full safety:

⚠️  Cascading undo: Selecting an operation will undo it and ALL operations that came after it.
? Select operation to undo: file_edit (1 ops)

This will undo 1 operation(s):

1. file_edit - 42s ago
   Will revert file: /project/test.txt
  This is an updated test file with new content.
- Here are some additional sentences.
- This file now contains multiple lines of text.
- Each line demonstrates different content.

? Are you sure you want to undo these 1 operations? Yes

Undoing 1 operations...

✓ File reverted: /project/test.txt
  Backup saved to: ~/.ccundo/backups/toolu_01AhVF5HYdmpAz91sUWre3te-current

Completed: 1 successful, 0 failed

That's It!

You've just undone a Claude Code operation without:

Spending any tokens
Affecting unrelated changes
Wasting time on manual fixes

Quick, safe, and precise.

Common Use Cases

Case 1: Wrong File Edited

# 1. Check what changed
ccundo list

# 2. Preview the changes
ccundo preview

# 3. Undo it
ccundo undo

Case 2: Unwanted File Created

# File creation is easily undone
ccundo undo
# → Created file gets deleted (with backup)

Case 3: Multiple Operations to Undo

# Cascading feature undos everything after your selection
ccundo undo
# → Maintains project consistency automatically

What ccundo Can Undo

ccundo handles all Claude Code operations:

File edits, creations, deletions
Directory operations
File/folder renames
⚠️ Bash commands (manual intervention required)

How It Works

ccundo:

Reads Claude Code session files from ~/.claude/projects/
Parses operation history
Creates safe backups before changes
Reverts only the selected Claude Code operations

Everything runs locally - zero token consumption.

Language Support

Prefer Japanese? ccundo has full Japanese support:

ccundo language ja

All messages, prompts, and interface elements switch to Japanese.

Why ccundo?

Before ccundo:

Ask Claude Code to undo → wastes tokens
Git reset → affects unrelated changes
Manual fixes → time consuming

With ccundo:

3 simple commands
Only targets Claude Code operations
Instant results with safety backups

Get Started

When Claude Code makes a mistake:

npm install -g ccundo - Install once
ccundo list - See operations
ccundo undo - Fix instantly

No more fear of Claude Code mistakes!

I Built ccundo: Instantly Undo Claude Code Mistakes Without Wasting Tokens

Ronit Sachdev — Sun, 06 Jul 2025 10:26:21 +0000

Ever had Claude Code make changes you immediately regretted? Instead of burning more tokens asking it to fix things, I built a tool to instantly undo operations.

The Problem

Claude Code is amazing, but sometimes it:

Edits the wrong file
Deletes something important
Makes changes you didn't expect

Your usual options suck:

Ask Claude Code to undo (wastes tokens)
Manual fixes (time consuming)
Git reset (undoes unrelated changes)

Meet ccundo

ccundo reads Claude Code's session files and lets you selectively undo individual operations with full previews.

Quick Start

npm install -g ccundo

# In any directory where you've used Claude Code
ccundo list      # See recent operations
ccundo preview   # See what would be undone
ccundo undo      # Undo with confirmation

Real Example

$ ccundo undo
⚠️  Cascading undo: Selecting an operation will undo it and ALL operations that came after it.
? Select operation to undo: file_edit (1 ops)

This will undo 1 operation(s):

1. file_edit - 42s ago
   Will revert file: /project/test.txt
  This is an updated test file with new content.
- Here are some additional sentences.
- This file now contains multiple lines of text.
- Each line demonstrates different content.

? Are you sure you want to undo these 1 operations? Yes

✓ File reverted: /project/test.txt
  Backup saved to: ~/.ccundo/backups/toolu_01AhVF5HYdmpAz91sUWre3te-current

Completed: 1 successful, 0 failed

Key Features

Detailed Previews - See exactly what will change before undoing

Cascading Safety - Maintains project consistency by undoing dependent operations

Safe Backups - Creates backups before making changes

Multi-language - Full English and Japanese support

Zero Config - Works immediately with Claude Code

How It Works

ccundo automatically:

Reads Claude Code session files from ~/.claude/projects/
Extracts file operations and bash commands
Tracks dependencies for safe cascading undo
Creates backups before reverting changes

Supports undoing:

File edits, creations, deletions, renames
Directory operations
Bash commands (with manual intervention prompts)

Why I Built This

Last week, Claude Code made some changes I immediately knew were wrong. Instead of spending more tokens explaining what to undo, I thought "there has to be a better way to handle this."

Now when Claude Code does something unexpected, I just run ccundo undo and I'm back where I started in seconds.

Try It Out

GitHub: RonitSachdev/ccundo
npm: ccundo

⭐ Star the repo if you find it useful!

What tools have you built to improve your Claude Code workflow? I'd love to hear about other productivity hacks in the comments!

DEV Community: Ronit Sachdev

I Procrastinated on AWS SAA for a Year. Here's How I Finally Passed!

The year of not studying

The turning point (not a motivational one)

What actually worked

1. Learn services by the problem they solve

2. Drill the two-way decisions, not the trivia

3. Practice tests + reviewing every miss = the real engine

4. The reading rules I carried into the exam room

The lows, documented

Result

The 30 free minutes I didn't know about (don't make my mistake)

If you're where I was

Free resource

How to Undo in Claude Code?

Step 1: Install ccundo

Step 2: See What to Undo

Step 3: Safely Undo

That's It!

Common Use Cases

Case 1: Wrong File Edited

Case 2: Unwanted File Created

Case 3: Multiple Operations to Undo

What ccundo Can Undo

How It Works

Language Support

Why ccundo?

Get Started

Links

I Built ccundo: Instantly Undo Claude Code Mistakes Without Wasting Tokens

The Problem

Meet ccundo

Quick Start

Real Example

Key Features

How It Works

Why I Built This

Try It Out