A developer is using AWS CodeDeploy to automate a company's application deployments to Amazon EC2.

Comprehensive and Detailed Step-by-Step Explanation:

To ensure successful software deployments using AWS CodeDeploy, the application specification file (appspec.yml or appspec.json) must adhere to specific requirements:

File Format Requirement (Option B):

The appspec.yml file is a YAML-formatted file required for defining deployment actions and file locations. This is the modern and recommended format for application specification files.

It can also be a JSON-formatted file named appspec.json, but YAML is most commonly used and accepted.

File Placement Requirement (Option D):

The application specification file must reside in the root directory of the application's source code. This is necessary so that AWS CodeDeploy can detect and use the file during deployment.

Incorrect Options:

Option A:While a JSON-formatted file (appspec.json) is valid, this is not a mandatory requirement. YAML is also acceptable, and this option does not account for it.

Option C:The application specification file is not required to be stored in AWS CodeBuild; it must be included in the source code's directory structure.

Option E:The application specification file does not need to be stored in Amazon S3. S3 is commonly used for application artifacts, but the appspec.yml or appspec.json file must exist within the deployment package or source code root.