The Ultimate AZ-204 Developing Azure Solutions Study Guide

Welcome to the AZ-204 Study Guide, where you will be guided through steps to prepare for and pass the AZ-204 exam. The guide covers several pieces of material for you to make your journey to passing the AZ-204 exam, including links to training courses, books, and other content you can use to perfect your study approach. You will also find links to helpful Microsoft docs at the end of this Ultimate Guide. 

If you are completely unsure where to begin in your certification journey, make sure to check out our post on certification paths.  

If you like this guide, be sure to check out our other Ultimate Study Guides on our website under “Study Material”: 

What is the Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure (AZ-204) Certification? 

This certification is designed for IT and cloud professionals who have 1-2 years of experience with development tools and processes and wish to take their knowledge to the next level by passing the AZ-204 exam.  

The exam, according to Microsoft, requires that you have or build a strong knowledge base around: 

• Azure SDKs 

• Azure PowerShell 

• Azure CLI 

• Data storage options 

• Data connections 

• APIs

• App authentication and authorization 

• Compute and container deployment 

• Debugging 

• Performance tuning 

• Monitoring 

To elaborate further, let’s look at the exam description as indicated by Microsoft on their AZ-204 site.
“Candidates for this exam should have subject matter expertise designing, building, testing, and maintaining cloud applications and services on Microsoft Azure. 

Responsibilities for an Azure Developer include participating in all phases of cloud development from requirements definition and design, to development, deployment, and maintenance. performance tuning, and monitoring. 
 

Azure Developers partner with cloud solution architects, cloud DBAs, cloud administrators, and clients to implement solutions. 

A candidate for this exam should have 1-2 years professional development experience and experience with Microsoft Azure. In addition, the role should have ability programming in a language supported by Azure and proficiency in Azure SDKs, Azure PowerShell, Azure CLI, data storage options, data connections, APIs, app authentication and authorization, compute and container deployment, debugging, performance tuning, and monitoring.” 

Microsoft also notes that you could be eligible for college credit by taking and passing this exam. You can find more information on this topic here: ACE college credit for certification exams 

What do I get once I pass the exam?

Once you pass the exam, you will be the proud owner of the “Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate” badge.

How long is the certification valid?

The AZ-204 certification is valid for two years.

Where do I sign up for the exam? 

You will want to navigate to the Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate certification page and schedule the exam with an exam administrator, such as Pearson View in the US. Note that if you are currently seeking employment and do not have a position due to COVID-19, you can schedule the exam at a discounted rate. The example below shows a discount from $165 --> $15.

You can find Microsoft exam FAQs here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/frequently-asked-questions

How long does it take to study for the AZ-204 exam?

The AZ-204 is an INTERMEDIATE level certification so you should be prepared to set aside time to study for the exam. Before we discuss timing, think about how the exam is broken out. The AZ-204 covers the following major areas:

·      Develop Azure compute solutions (25-30%)

·      Develop for Azure storage (10-15%)

·      Implement Azure security (15-20%)

·      Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize Azure solutions (10-15%)

·      Connect to and consume Azure services and third-party services (25-30%)

The percentages indicated above give you an indication on how the test is broken out. This means, you should expect around 25-30% of your questions to focus on developing Azure compute solutions. Take note of the first and last major areas. Those sections alone can account for upwards of 50% of the entire exam curriculum.

How hard is the AZ-204 exam?

Depending on how much prior experience you have with the AZ-204 subjects, the exam can range from passable to difficult. The exam aims to confirm what you have learned with 1-2 years of development experience in Azure, so be prepared that you should have some real-world background. You should go into the exam expecting multiple types of questions. Multiple choice, scenarios, labs etc.

One key is not to be overwhelmed as you get into the exam. You will have lots of questions to go through and you can often come back to questions you didn’t fully grasp at first. Make extra sure to get hands on experience by following along with the demos and trying things out for yourself in your own lab. If you are looking for ways to keep your costs down while learning Azure, check out this article. <https://www.skylinesacademy.com/blog/2019/10/10/how-to-keep-costs-down-while-learning-azure> 

What is the pass mark for the AZ-204 test?

Microsoft certification exams are scored out of 1000. You need a 700 or higher to pass the AZ-204 exam and gain your Azure Developer Associate badge.

Is the AZ-204 Azure exam worth taking?

Yes! Taking the exam is a great way to solidify your knowledge and prove to yourself/your employer that you know you stuff when it comes to developing Azure solutions.

AZ-204 Study Material

Luckily there are several resources available to help you study!

Training Course

https://courses.skylinesacademy.com/p/microsoft-az-204-certification-course-developing-solutions-for-microsoft-azure

The Skylines Academy AZ-204 training course by Joe Fecht was released in December 2020. It included 5.5 hours of video content and practice questions at the end of each section to confirm what you have learned. The course is broken out into the following sections:

·      A course introduction to set the stage for your learning

·      Understanding Azure Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

·      Leveraging Container Resources

·      Azure App Services

·      Azure Functions

·      Cosmos DB Storage

·      Azure Blob Storage

·      Authentication

·      Azure Key Vault

·      Application Delivery

·      Monitoring Applications

·      Logic Apps

·      API Management

·      Event Based Solutions

This is the most structured way to work through the curriculum as it combines lectures with walkthrough demos so you can learn about the topic before seeing how it is implemented.

In addition to the training videos and practice questions, this course includes PowerShell and Azure CLI Administrators Guides.

AZ-204 EXAM REFERENCE BOOK

The Microsoft Press Book – AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure is a great resource. Grab this book from Amazon.

Study links and documents

Now for the major pieces of reading material. Below you will find all the links to relevant Skylines Academy blog posts and Microsoft documentation to cover the key topics. Consider all the links below essential reading for the exam unless they are marked as optional. Even if they are marked as optional, consider reading them to further clarify the subject matter and help you continue your learning path beyond the architect certification.

Microsoft Docs AZ-204 Study Guide Resources

Develop Azure compute solutions (25-30%)

Implement IaaS solutions

• provision VMs

  • Quickstart: Create a Windows virtual machine in the Azure portal

  • Tutorial: Create and Manage Windows VMs with Azure PowerShell

• configure VMs for remote access

  • How to connect and sign on to an Azure virtual machine running Windows

  • Secure your management ports with just-in-time access

• create ARM templates

  • Azure Resource Manager templates overview

  • Tutorial: Create and deploy your first Azure Resource Manager template

• create container images for solutions by using Docker

  • Tutorial: Build and deploy container images in the cloud with Azure Container Registry Tasks

  • Tutorial: Create container images on a Linux Service Fabric cluster

  • Tutorial: Create a container image for deployment to Azure Container Instances

• publish an image to the Azure Container Registry

  • Push your first image to a private Docker container registry using the Docker CLI

• run containers by using Azure Container Instance

  • What is Azure Container Instances?

  • Quickstart: Deploy a container instance in Azure using the Azure CLI

  • Quickstart: Deploy a container instance in Azure using the Azure portal

  • Quickstart: Deploy a container instance in Azure using Azure PowerShell

  • Tutorial: Deploy a container application to Azure Container Instances

Create Azure App Service Web Apps

• create an Azure App Service Web App

  • Create an ASP.NET Core web app in Azure

• enable diagnostics logging

  • Enable diagnostics logging for apps in Azure App Service

• deploy code to a web app

  • Deploy your app to Azure App Service with a ZIP or WAR file

  • Deploy an Azure Web App

  • Provision and deploy microservices predictably in Azure

• configure web app settings including SSL, API, and connection strings

  • Custom configuration and application settings in Azure Web Sites

  • Configure an App Service app in the Azure portal

  • Buy a custom domain name for Azure App Service

  • Add a TLS/SSL certificate in Azure App Service

• implement autoscaling rules, including scheduled autoscaling, and scaling by operational or system metrics

  • Scale up an app in Azure App Service

  • Get started with Autoscale in Azure

Implement Azure functions

• implement input and output bindings for a function

  • Azure Functions triggers and bindings concepts

  • Azure Functions trigger and binding example

• implement function triggers by using data operations, timers, and webhooks

  • Azure Functions triggers and bindings concepts

  • Azure Functions trigger and binding example

  • Azure Functions HTTP triggers and bindings overview

• implement Azure Durable Functions

  • What are Durable Functions?

  • Create your first durable function in C#

Develop for Azure storage (10-15%)

Develop solutions that use Cosmos DB storage

• select the appropriate API for your solution

  • Welcome to Azure Cosmos DB

• implement partitioning schemes

  • Partitioning in Azure Cosmos DB

• interact with data using the appropriate SDK

  • Tutorial: Develop an ASP.NET Core MVC web application with Azure Cosmos DB by using .NET SDK

  • Tutorial: Build a .NET console app to manage data in Azure Cosmos DB SQL API account

  • Tutorial: Query Azure Cosmos DB by using the SQL API

  • Tutorial: Set up Azure Cosmos DB global distribution using the SQL API

• set the appropriate consistency level for operations

  • Choose the right consistency level

  • Consistency levels and Azure Cosmos DB APIs

  • Consistency, availability, and performance tradeoffs

• create Cosmos DB containers

  • Create an Azure Cosmos container

• implement scaling (partitions, containers)

  • Partitioning and horizontal scaling in Azure Cosmos DB

  • Work with databases, containers, and items in Azure Cosmos DB

• implement server-side programming including stored procedures, triggers, and change feed notifications

  • Stored Procedures

  • Triggers

  • Change feed in Azure Cosmos DB

Develop solutions that use blob storage

• move items in Blob storage between storage accounts or containers

  • Transfer data with AzCopy and Blob storage

  • Using the Azure CLI with Azure Storage

• set and retrieve properties and metadata

  • Manage container properties and metadata with .NET

• interact with data using the appropriate SDK

  • Quickstart: Azure Blob storage client library v12 for .NET

• implement data archiving and retention

  • Store business-critical blob data with immutable storage

  • Azure Blob storage: hot, cool, and archive access tiers

  • Rehydrate blob data from the archive tier

• implement hot, cool, and archive storage

  • Azure Blob storage: hot, cool, and archive access tiers

Implement Azure security (15-20%)

Implement user authentication and authorization

• implement OAuth2 authentication

  • Protect an API by using OAuth 2.0 with Azure Active Directory and API Management

  • Authentication basics

• create and implement shared access signatures

  • Grant limited access to Azure Storage resources using shared access signatures (SAS)

• register apps and use Azure Active Directory to authenticate users

  • Develop line-of-business apps for Azure Active Directory

• control access to resources by using role-based access controls (RBAC)

  • What is Azure role-based access control (Azure RBAC)?

  • Classic subscription administrator roles, Azure roles, and Azure AD roles

Implement secure cloud solutions

• secure app configuration data by using the App Configuration and KeyVault API

  • Securely save secret application settings for a web application

  • Use Key Vault references for App Service and Azure Functions

  • What is Azure App Configuration?

• manage keys, secrets, and certificates by using the Key Vault

  • About keys, secrets, and certificates

• implement Managed Identities for Azure resources

  • What are managed identities for Azure resources?

  • Tutorial: Use a user-assigned managed identity on a Windows VM to access Azure Resource Manager

Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize Azure solutions (10-15%)

Integrate caching and content delivery within solutions

• develop code to implement CDN’s in solutions

  • Azure CDN Documentation

  • Best practices for using content delivery networks (CDNs)

  • Create an Azure CDN endpoint

  • What is Azure Front Door?

  • Azure Cache for Redis

• configure cache and expiration policies for FrontDoor, CDNs, or Redis caches

  • Control Azure CDN caching behavior with caching rules

  • Caching with Azure Front Door

  • Quickstart: Create an Azure Cache for Redis instance

  • Best practices for Azure Cache for Redis

• store and retrieve data in Azure Redis cache

  • Quickstart: Use Azure Cache for Redis with a .NET Framework application

  • Caching

Instrument solutions to support monitoring and logging

• configure instrumentation in an app or service by using Application Insights

  • Application Insights for ASP.NET Core applications

  • Quickstart: Start monitoring your website with Azure Monitor Application Insights

• analyze log data and troubleshoot solutions by using Azure Monitor

  • Monitoring solutions in Azure Monitor

  • Logs in Azure Monitor

  • Find and diagnose run-time exceptions with Azure Application Insights

  • Find and diagnose performance issues with Azure Application Insights

• implement Application Insights Web Test and Alerts

  • Creating an Application Insights Web Test and Alert Programmatically

  • Monitor the availability of any website

Connect to and consume Azure services and third-party services (25-30%)

Develop an App Service Logic App

• create a Logic App

  • Quickstart: Create your first workflow by using Azure Logic Apps – Azure portal

  • Quickstart: Create automated tasks, processes, and workflows with Azure Logic Apps – Visual Studio

  • Quickstart: Create and manage logic app workflow definitions by using Visual Studio Code

• create a custom connector for Logic Apps

  • Create a custom connector in Azure Logic Apps

  • B2B enterprise integration solutions with Azure Logic Apps and Enterprise Integration Pack

• create a custom template for Logic Apps

  • Create Azure Resource Manager templates to automate deployment for Azure Logic Apps

  • Create logic app workflows from prebuilt templates

Implement API management

• create an APIM instance

  • Create a new Azure API Management service instance

• configure authentication for APIs

  • How to secure APIs using client certificate authentication in API Management

• define policies for APIs

  • Policies in Azure API Management

  • API Management policies

Develop event-based solutions

• implement solutions that use Azure Event Grid

  • What is Azure Event Grid?

  • Event-Driven Architecture in the Cloud with Azure Event Grid

  • Quickstart: Route custom events to web endpoint with the Azure portal and Event Grid

  • Tutorial: Monitor virtual machine changes by using Azure Event Grid and Logic Apps

• implement solutions that use Azure Notification Hubs

  • What is Azure Notification Hubs?

  • Integration with App Service Mobile Apps

  • Create an Azure notification hub in the Azure portal

• implement solutions that use Azure Event Hub

  • Features and terminology in Azure Event Hubs

  • Quickstart: Create an event hub using Azure portal

  • Tutorial: Stream data into Azure Databricks using Event Hubs

Develop message-based solutions

• implement solutions that use Azure Service Bus

  • What is Azure Service Bus?

  • Quickstart: Use Azure portal to create a Service Bus queue

  • Get started with Service Bus queues

• implement solutions that use Azure Queue Storage queues

  • What are Azure queues?

  • Get started with Azure Queue storage using .NET
    

You made it this far? Fantastic. You learned a lot I hope and we want to help more!

GETTING HELP?

Make sure to join the Azure Study Group on Facebook and ask questions if you get stuck at all. Thousands of people are preparing to take this exam and there’s nothing better than helping each other out? 

Good luck!