My path to the Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate (AZ-204)

Hi Azure Developer Friends,

When I read the information on this exam, I first thought that this exam should be "easy" to pass. After taking a closer look, I immediately realized that this will not be the case. The tasks of an Azure Developer are very extensive.

Quote from Microsoft website: The responsibilities of an Azure Developer include participating in all phases of cloud development, from requirements definition and design to development, deployment and maintenance to performance tuning and monitoring.

When I read this, I thought to myself, with this exam and the related topics, I really have to make an enormous effort!

All information about this exam can be found on the Microsoft website.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-204

Now for my checklist:

1. Read through the skills measured at your leisure

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-204

2. Read thomasmaurer 's Study Guide. This is really super helpful information!

https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2020/03/az-204-study-guide-developing-solutions-for-microsoft-azure/

3. Create a free Azure account, if you don't already have one, so that you can do all exercises in a hands-on manner

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/

4. Take a close look at the Microsoft learning path, even better work through it right away (the learning paths are listed a little further down on the website)

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-204

5. Register for the exam early. This creates some pressure and you stay motivated

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-204

6. Practice, practice, practice ... With examples from the Microsoft Azure documentation portal and Learning paths

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/?product=databases

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/?product=containers

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/?product=security

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/?product=storage

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/?product=compute

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/create-serverless-applications/

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/connect-your-services-together/

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/deploy-a-website-with-azure-virtual-machines/

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/manage-resources-in-azure/

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/manage-resources-in-azure/

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/deploy-a-website-with-azure-app-service/

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/secure-your-cloud-data/

7. The Azure Architecture Center is a great source of information to understand relationships even better. Be sure to check it out!

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/

For me personally it has been shown that I am most likely to be successful when I do as much as possible in practice. I consciously take a lot of time to provide as many resources as possible in Azure. Be it with PowerShell, Azure CLI, Azure Portal or with ARM templates. It gives me insight into the various details. This is exactly the information that helps me to correctly answer certain (sometimes not entirely obvious) questions.

One final tip: When you have learned something new, try to explain what you have learned to another person (whether or not they know your subject). If you can explain it in your own words, you understand the subject. That is exactly how I do it, except that I do not explain it to another person, but record a video for YouTube!

I hope this information helps you and that you successfully pass the exam. I wish you success!

Kind regards, Tom Wechsler