The AZ-204 exam is an important certification for Azure developers looking to validate their skills. This certification can help boost your career as a cloud developer working with Microsoft technologies.
What is the AZ-204 Certification?
The AZ-204 certification exam focuses on assessing and validating your skills for designing, building, testing, and maintaining applications and services on Microsoft Azure. It covers a wide range of topics including:
- Serverless computing
- Building Azure App Service Web Apps
- Implement Azure functions
- Develop solutions that use blob storage
- Implement authentication and authorization using Azure AD
- Instrument solutions to support monitoring and logging with Azure Monitor
Who Should Take the AZ-204 Exam?
The AZ-204 certification is designed for developers with 1-2 years experience building applications with Microsoft technologies. Typical roles include:
- Azure Developers
- .NET Developers
- Software Developers
Having hands-on experience with Azure, ASP.NET Core, Azure Functions, and Azure Logic Apps is highly recommended before taking the exam.
How to Prepare for the AZ-204 Exam
Here are some tips on how to prepare for the exam:
- Review the AZ-204 exam skills outline
- Take instructor-led training courses on Azure development
- Work through related learning paths on Microsoft Learn
- Use hands-on labs and tutorials to gain practical experience
- Take practice tests to identify knowledge gaps
With thorough preparation focused on the exam objectives, you’ll be ready to demonstrate your abilities in Azure development and earn this valuable certification.
The AZ-204 certification validates expertise for building, testing and managing Azure-based applications. It can help open new job opportunities and advance your career as a cloud developer. Use the tips outlined here for exam success!
What Is Azure Developer Certification?
The AZ-204 certification is the Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate credential. This certification validates a candidate’s skills in designing, building, testing, and maintaining cloud applications and services on Microsoft Azure.
Some key points about the AZ-204 certification:
- Demonstrates ability to work with Azure technologies like storage, security, compute, and networking
- Covers aspects like DevOps, monitoring, and application design
- Validates 1-2 years of hands-on experience developing Azure solutions
- Qualifying exam has 60 multiple-choice questions, lasts 150 minutes
- Official prep resources like exam blueprint and practice tests available
Earning the AZ-204 certification can benefit your career as an Azure developer in several ways:
- Proves your expertise in Azure development to employers
- Enhances your resume and job prospects in cloud computing
- Keeps your skills current with the latest Azure services and best practices
- Can count towards advanced Microsoft certifications like Azure Solutions Architect
The AZ-204 exam and certification measures real-world abilities in designing, building, deploying, and maintaining apps on Azure. Preparing through hands-on experience, official Microsoft Learn modules, and practice tests is key to pass on your first attempt.
Who should go for Azure Developer?
The Azure Developer Associate certification is ideal for software developers, web developers, and application developers who want to demonstrate skills in developing, monitoring, and maintaining applications on Azure.
Here are some of the key roles and responsibilities of an Azure Developer:
- Design and architect Azure cloud solutions
- Build, deploy, and configure cloud applications on Azure
- Integrate Azure services into applications
- Store and manage data on Azure storage platforms
- Implement authentication and authorization of applications
- Instrument applications to support monitoring and logging
- Optimize application performance on Azure
The AZ-204 exam and certification is recommended for those with 1-2 years of experience building applications with Microsoft technologies like:
- C#
- .NET
- .NET Core
- ASP.NET
- Azure SDKs
- Azure CLI
- Azure PowerShell
Candidates should also have basic understanding of:
- Azure architecture
- Azure administration
- Azure storage and data connections
- Compute and container deployment options
- Debugging and performance tuning
- Application security
The AZ-204 certification validates the ability to develop efficient and scalable cloud solutions on the Azure platform. It demonstrates expertise across various aspects of cloud application development and is a valuable credential for Azure developers.
Why Become An Azure Developer?
Becoming an Azure developer is a great career choice for several reasons:
High Demand
- Azure adoption is growing rapidly, with over 95% of Fortune 500 companies using Azure services. This has created a huge demand for skilled Azure developers.
High Salaries
- Azure developers earn some of the highest salaries in tech, with an average salary of over $130,000 per year. As a certified Azure Developer Associate (AZ-204), you can command even higher salaries.
Exciting Work
- Working on the Azure cloud platform allows you to build innovative solutions quickly using the latest technologies like AI, IoT, serverless computing, and more. Azure developers get to work on cutting-edge projects.
Flexible Career Options
- With Azure skills, you can work as a cloud architect, DevOps engineer, solution architect, back-end developer, and more. The skills you gain are transferable across many roles.
Get Certified
- Getting certified with exams like AZ-204 proves to employers that you have the hands-on skills to design, build, test, and maintain applications on Azure. This will make you stand out from other candidates.
AZ-204 | Certification Benefits
The AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure certification offers many advantages for your career as a cloud developer. Obtaining this certification demonstrates your skills and knowledge in key areas like:
- Cloud Architecture Design – You understand how to design scalable and reliable solutions on Azure using features like virtual machines, containers, serverless computing, and microservices.
- Building Secure Cloud Applications – You can implement authentication, authorization, data encryption, and other security measures into your Azure solutions.
- Developing Azure PaaS Services – You have hands-on experience using Azure services like App Service, Azure Functions, Logic Apps, Event Grid, and Service Bus.
- Storing and Managing Data – You know how to leverage Azure data platforms like Cosmos DB, Blob Storage, and Azure SQL to store and manage relational and non-relational data.
- Monitoring and Troubleshooting – You can monitor application health, trace issues, and optimize performance using tools like Azure Monitor, Application Insights, and Log Analytics.
The AZ-204 certification shows employers that you have an excellent foundation in and practical experience with Azure development. As more companies adopt cloud platforms, this certification becomes increasingly valuable.
Obtaining the AZ-204 can open up new job opportunities, earn you higher pay, and allow you to advance to senior technical or leadership roles. It’s an investment that demonstrates your dedication to staying current with Microsoft’s premier cloud platform.
AZ-204 | Exam Details
The AZ-204 exam focuses on assessing and validating the skills needed to develop solutions on the Microsoft Azure platform. Here are some key details about this certification exam that aspiring Azure developers should know:
Exam Format
- Duration: 150 minutes
- Type: Multiple choice questions
- Number of questions: 60-70
Exam Domains
The AZ-204 exam tests knowledge across three key domains:
- Connect to and consume Azure services and third-party services (25-30%)
- Implement security (20-25%)
- Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize solutions (10-15%)
Eligibility and Prerequisites
To be eligible for the AZ-204 exam, candidates should have:
- 1-2 years professional development experience with Microsoft Azure
- Experience with Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, Azure SDKs
- Familiarity with APIs, compute, network, storage, and security
Tips for Passing
Here are some tips to pass the AZ-204 exam:
- Review the exam blueprint and identify knowledge gaps
- Get hands-on practice with Azure services using free trials
- Take practice tests to assess your readiness
- Manage your time effectively during the exam
The AZ-204 certification validates key skills for developing robust cloud-based solutions on Azure. Preparing strategically using official exam resources can help in passing on the first attempt.
AZ-204 Course Outline
The AZ-204 certification focuses on developing solutions for Microsoft Azure. It covers key skills like:
Connect to Azure Services
- Integrate compute, network, storage, and databases into solutions
- Incorporate authentication, authorization, and security into designs
- Develop apps to consume Azure services
Develop Azure Compute Solutions
- Create Azure App Service apps
- Implement Azure functions
- Build solutions with Azure Container Instances
Develop Azure Storage Solutions
- Create storage accounts
- Manage access keys
- Implement shared storage solutions like Azure Files
Implement Azure Security
- Manage identities with Azure AD
- Implement authentication using certificates, MSAL, and OAuth2
- Control access with RBAC
- Secure data with encryption
Monitor, Troubleshoot, and Optimize Solutions
- Integrate caching and content delivery
- Instrument solutions for monitoring
- Perform troubleshooting using metrics and logs
The AZ-204 exam focuses on these key aspects of cloud solution development on the Microsoft Azure platform. Passing the exam demonstrates skills in designing, building, deploying, and maintaining robust cloud apps and services.
Develop Azure compute solutions (25-30%)
Azure compute solutions allow you to leverage the power and scalability of the cloud to run applications and workloads. As an Azure developer, having strong skills in this area is key. Here are some important aspects to focus on:
Provision Azure VMs
- Know how to create and manage Windows and Linux VMs for development and testing purposes. Be familiar with VM sizes, storage, networking, availability, and security features.
Automate VM deployment
- Use Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates and Desired State Configuration (DSC) to automate the deployment and configuration of VMs. This saves time and ensures consistency.
Implement batch jobs
- Batch jobs allow you to run large-scale parallel compute jobs efficiently in Azure. Know how to run batch jobs using Azure Batch service.
Create and deploy container images
- Containers are an important compute option on Azure. Know how to create container images using Docker and deploy them using services like Azure Container Instances (ACI) or Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
Implement Azure functions
- Serverless computing using Azure Functions is a key skill. Know how to develop, test and troubleshoot Azure functions that are triggered by events.
By mastering these compute solutions on Azure, you will be well on your way to passing the AZ-204 exam and becoming a certified Azure developer. Let me know if you need any clarification or have additional questions!
Develop for Azure storage (15-20% of exam)
Azure provides several storage solutions to meet various needs. Mastering Azure storage is crucial for passing the AZ-204 exam and becoming an effective Azure developer.
Types of Azure storage
- Azure Blob storage – For storing large amounts of unstructured data like images, documents, backups etc. Highly scalable and cost-efficient.
- Azure Disk Storage – Provides disks for Azure Virtual Machines, with options like Ultra Disks, Premium SSDs and Standard HDDs.
- Azure Files – Managed file shares that can be accessed like traditional on-prem file servers. Integrates well with on-prem resources.
Key concepts
- Storage accounts – The management container for all storage services. Configure access, encryption, replication etc at the account level.
- Access tiers – Control costs by choosing cooler tiers like Hot, Cool or Archive for blobs and files. Colder = cheaper but slower access.
- Replication – Choose LRS, ZRS, GRS etc to control how many copies of data are maintained across regions. Tradeoff between availability and cost.
Developing with Azure storage
- Use shared access signatures (SAS) to provide limited access to storage resources without sharing keys. More secure.
- Optimize reads/writes using parallelism, buffering, partitioning etc for maximum throughput.
- Index data appropriately and set partition keys to optimize Cosmos DB query performance.
- Use stored procedures, triggers and change feed in Cosmos DB for server-side programming.
Hands-on practice
Nothing beats learning by doing. Make use of the free Azure subscription and credits provided by Microsoft to get practical experience with Azure storage services. Focus on Cosmos DB and blob storage in particular.
With diligent practice on Azure storage development, passing the 15-20% of AZ-204 exam questions on this topic becomes very achievable.
Implement Azure security (20-25%)
Azure security is crucial for protecting data and applications in the cloud. Some key ways to implement Azure security include:
Use Azure Active Directory for identity and access management. Azure AD allows you to control access to Azure resources and applications. Key features include:
- Multi-factor authentication
- Conditional access policies
- Role-based access control
- Identity protection
Enable encryption to protect sensitive data. Use services like Azure Disk Encryption, Azure Storage encryption, and Always Encrypted to encrypt data at rest and in transit.
Use Azure Key Vault to securely store encryption keys, passwords, certificates, and API keys. Key Vault makes it easy to control and audit access to confidential information.
Implement Azure Firewall to control incoming and outgoing network traffic. Create firewall rules to allow/deny traffic based on factors like IP addresses, protocols, and ports.
Use Azure DDoS protection to safeguard against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks which can disrupt availability. DDoS protection provides monitoring and real-time mitigation.
Enable Azure Security Center which provides unified security management and threat protection across hybrid and multi-cloud workloads. Features like continuous monitoring, recommendations, and just-in-time VM access can enhance security posture.
Use role-based access control (RBAC) to manage permissions and only provide users the minimum access they need to perform their jobs. This follows the principle of least privilege.
Overall, taking a defense-in-depth approach with multiple overlapping security controls is the best way to secure cloud resources. Monitoring and responding to security alerts is also critical.
Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize Azure solutions (15-20%)
Monitoring and troubleshooting Azure solutions is critical for optimizing performance and ensuring high availability. Here are key things to focus on:
Use built-in logging and metrics
- Enable diagnostic settings on Azure resources like App Services, VMs, and databases to collect logs and metrics. These provide insight into health, performance, and usage.
- View metrics like CPU, memory, network usage in Azure Monitor to identify issues. Set up alerts for critical metrics.
- Analyze logs in Log Analytics to diagnose problems. Use queries to search logs and visualize data.
Perform end-to-end tracing
- Use Application Insights to monitor app performance. Quickly identify failures and exceptions.
- Implement distributed tracing with App Insights or OpenTelemetry. Correlate telemetry data across microservices to diagnose complex issues.
Tune the data platform
- Profile database queries and tune indexes for faster performance.
- Partition data for scalability. Choose appropriate Cosmos DB consistency levels.
- Set cache sizes correctly on Redis and tune for lower latency.
Scale resources
- Scale out/in VMs and App Service plans to match demand and control costs.
- Implement auto-scaling rules based on metrics.
- Choose appropriate VM and database SKUs to get optimal performance for the workload.
Regularly assess for optimization
- Review access logs, resource usage metrics to right size deployments.
- Check for unused resources that can be removed to save costs.
- Keep up with latest Azure services/features and upgrade as feasible.
Let me know if you need any clarification or have additional questions!
Connect to and consume Azure services and third-party services (15-20%)
Connecting to and consuming Azure services and third-party services is an important part of developing solutions on the Azure platform. The AZ-204 certification exam covers this topic for 15-20% of the questions.
Key aspects include:
- Connecting to Azure storage services like Blob storage, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Cache for Redis etc. This involves tasks like:
- Obtaining connection strings
- Installing appropriate NuGet packages
- Using SDKs for different services
- Connecting to Azure cognitive services like Computer Vision, Text Analytics, Anomaly Detector etc. This requires:
- Subscribing to the services
- Obtaining API keys
- Calling the APIs with proper parameters
- Integrating with Azure Active Directory for authentication and authorization. Key steps are:
- Registering applications
- Configuring permissions and roles
- Acquiring tokens
- Consuming third-party services like SendGrid for email, Twilio for SMS etc. This needs:
- Subscribing to the services
- Obtaining credentials like API keys
- Calling the service APIs in code
Benefits of connecting and consuming Azure and third-party services:
- Accelerate development by using managed services instead of building from scratch
- Add advanced functionality like AI, machine learning, security easily
- Integrate services to build robust and scalable solutions
- Save time and effort over managing underlying infrastructure
Who This Certification Is For?
The AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure certification is ideal for developers with experience building cloud solutions. Specifically, this certification targets:
- Application developers who want to learn how to build apps with Microsoft Azure. This includes creating IoT, AI, machine learning, and serverless solutions.
- Web developers looking to host solutions in the cloud. The certification covers critical topics like Azure App Service, Azure Functions, and containerization with services like ACI and AKS.
- Mobile developers wanting to connect their apps to cloud services and build full-stack solutions. Key areas include integration with tools like API Management and Azure Notification Hubs.
- Software engineers aiming to advance cloud development skills. The exam validates expertise across a wide range of services for scalable and reliable solutions.
The AZ-204 certification focuses more on development than infrastructure administration. So it’s suited for builders not operators. Hands-on coding experience with languages like .NET, Java, Python, JavaScript, etc. provides a strong foundation.
Though not required, having 1-2 years professional development experience makes earning the certification more achievable. This gives familiarity with topics like messaging, networking, security, and storage.
Overall, the AZ-204 targets intermediate developers ready to prove cloud development skills on Microsoft’s trusted Azure platform. It validates expertise for building, testing, and managing apps in Azure.
Conclusion
In summary, becoming an Azure developer by getting certified in AZ-204 opens up an exciting and lucrative tech career with plenty of opportunities. The demand for Azure skills will only increase in the future, making it a smart career investment.
Make sure to practice connecting to and consuming the various Azure services and third-party offerings. This will help in passing the AZ-204 exam and building real-world solutions on the Azure platform. Use the SDKs and samples provided to speed up your learning.
