CCA-F Preparation Curriculum — Module 0 of 8

Prerequisite Track: Python Fundamentals & Infrastructure Basics (Weeks P1–P5)

Complete before Module 1 | ~33–40 hours total

Why this prerequisite track exists

The main CCA-F curriculum (Modules 1–8) produces an architect who can design, specify, govern, deploy, and operate enterprise AI systems. The prerequisite track exists to close the gap between design intent and execution reality: an architect who cannot write a Python script, containerise a service, or navigate a cloud console cannot verify that their designs work, cannot diagnose production failures, and cannot be credible to engineering teams implementing their specifications.

This track does not make you a software engineer. Five weeks of focused work produces an architect who can read and write Python at a professional standard, understands how cloud infrastructure is organised, can containerise a service, and can push code through a basic deployment pipeline. That is the minimum viable technical floor for the production-readiness outcomes this curriculum targets.

Estimated time commitment: 6–8 hours per week for 5 weeks. Each week has pre-work (readings + setup), a core concept section, a step-by-step exercise producing a tangible artefact, and a self-check. All exercises produce runnable code that you will extend in later modules.

How the exercises work — three tiers of independence. Module 0 uses three levels of exercise so you always know what to attempt on your own and when it is legitimate to look something up.

• Tier 1 — Guided (Weeks P1 and P3): Code is shown in full in the Core Concept section. You type it out line by line — no copy-paste. Typing rather than pasting is deliberate: it forces you to read each character and builds pattern recognition faster than reading alone.
• Tier 2 — Scaffolded (Weeks P2 and P4): Function signatures and docstrings are given. The body is not. A hint points to the specific Core Concept example to adapt. You write the body yourself. Expect 10–20 minutes per function.
• Tier 3 — Independent (Week P5): Only the specification is given. No hint, no example. This is the level Module 1 and beyond expects. Week P5 builds up to this standard so Module 1 does not come as a shock.

The 15-minute rule: if you are genuinely stuck on any exercise after 15 minutes of real effort, use the reference for that week:

• Week P1: the Core Concept section contains complete implementations — re-read the relevant section, understand it, close it, and type from memory.
• Week P2: go to Appendix A at the end of this document. Read the implementation, understand each line, close it, and type from memory.
• Weeks P3, P4, and P5: the Core Concept section contains the complete reference code for every pattern in the exercise. Re-read the specific section that covers the step you are stuck on, understand it, close it, and write the command or code from memory. There is no separate appendix for these weeks — the Core Concept is the reference.

Looking at the reference is not failure. Abandoning the exercise is.

Tools you will need — install before Week P1:

• Python 3.14+ from python.org — verify with python --version in terminal
• VS Code from code.visualstudio.com — install the Python extension
• Git from git-scm.com — verify with git --version
• A GitHub account (free) — you will use this for all portfolio repositories
• A free AWS account (free tier) at aws.amazon.com — you will use this in Week P5. Set up MFA on the root account before proceeding.

How this track supports the CCA-F exam

Module 0 does not directly address any exam domain. Its purpose is to build the technical floor that every exam domain rests on. The table below shows which prerequisite capabilities feed which exam domains in Modules 1–8.

A learner who reaches Module 1 without genuine fluency in any row of this table will encounter that gap at the worst possible moment — inside a timed module exercise with no time to step back and learn the foundational skill. The progression gate at the end of this module is the checkpoint. Treat it as a performance standard, not a reading list.