About Microsoft AZ-204 Exam
Striving to become an Azure Developer means that you possess the required expertise and skills to perform the designing, testing, maintaining, and building processes needed for the Cloud apps and services on Microsoft Azure. The Microsoft AZ-204 exam is what you need in case you want to validate this knowledge and get the associate-level certification as proof.
To be eligible for this test, you don’t need to meet any requirements besides mastering the topics it contains and having about 1-2 years of the professional development experience working in the Microsoft Azure sector. There is no need to obtain any other certification before going for this path. However, a potential candidate should have the skills in programming in a language supported by Azure. Also, it is recommended to have knowledge of data storage options, app authentication & authorization, debugging, Azure SDKs, data connections, monitoring, performance tuning, compute & container deployment, Azure CLI, APIs, and Azure PowerShell. After proving your level of expertise by passing the AZ-204 exam, you will obtain the Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate certificate.
Exam Details
Before going for any IT test, you need to know its structure and what to expect from it. Thus, the Microsoft AZ-204 exam has about 60 questions that you need to clear within 180 minutes. All of them can be of various types, which include active screen, labs, mark review, hot area, short answer, multiple choice, and even more. You can check the full list with the tutorial videos for each format on the Microsoft website to know how to deal with them. This test is available for taking in Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and English and costs $165.
The vendor offers two training options that you can choose from to prepare adequately for the Microsoft AZ-204 test. There are free online courses that you can take at any time without spending a penny, or you can go for the training courses that are led by the certified instructors after paying a certain price. The free option is presented in 7 learning paths that lead you through the exam topics and help you learn the needed skills. The paid courses are available at the learning centers in different countries that are working with Microsoft for a Partner Program to let you gain the knowledge you need anywhere in the world. It is up to you which variant to choose and you can even opt for both of them if you want.
Exam Topics
It doesn’t matter which prep resources you use until you know the topics that are covered in the test. Knowing the syllabus outline will lead you to the right training options because you will see which of them include these details and which of them don’t. That is why you should pay attention to the following sections:
- Connection & Consumption of Azure & Third-Party Services (15-20%)
This section will evaluate your skills in implementing API Management and developing message-based or event-based solutions. This means that you need to be able to define policies and configure authentication for APIs, besides creating the APIM instances. The area also includes the details of implementation solutions, which utilize the Azure Event Hub, Notification Hubs, Queue Storage queues, Event Grid, and Service Bus.
- Development of Azure Compute Solutions (25-30%)
The next objective contains the information about the implementation processes of IaaS solutions and Azure functions. It also includes the details of the creation of the Azure App Service Web Apps, such as diagnostics logging, code deployment, autoscaling implementation, and configuration of web app settings. Besides that, the potential candidates need to have the skills in implementing Azure Durable Functions, custom handlers, and function triggers with the help of timers, webhooks, and data operations. Your skillset should also include the ability to configure ARM templates and container images for solutions, create the Azure Functions apps, as well as publish images to the Azure Container Registry.
- Implementation of Azure Security (20-25%)
Here, it is important to know the ways to implement secure Cloud solutions and user authentication & authorization. This means that the individuals need to have the skills in securing the app configuration data with the help of the App Configuration Azure Key Vault as well as authorizing apps & users by utilizing the Microsoft Identity platform or Azure Active Directory. Please keep in mind that a learner needs to have knowledge of the creation & implementation of shared access signatures and development of the code that uses secrets, certificates, and keys stored in the Azure Key Vault.
- Development for Azure Storage (15-20%)
To be able to answer the questions from this domain, the examinees must know about the development features required for the solutions, which use Blob storage or Cosmos DB storage. Therefore, you need to have an understanding of using the appropriate SDK and API, performing the operations on Cosmos DB and data containers, as well as implementing storage policies. Moreover, you are required to possess the skills in moving items in Blob storage between storage containers or accounts, implementing partitioning keys and schemes, as well as setting the appropriate consistency level for the needed operations.
- Optimization, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting of Azure Solutions (15-20%)
In this last topic, all the interested applicants will be evaluated whether they have the skills in integrating content delivery and caching within solutions as well as instrumenting solutions to support logging & monitoring or not. This part also includes the information about the configuration of cache & expiration policies and apps or services to use Application Insights. It is important to be able to analyze solutions and troubleshoot them with the use of Azure Monitor. Furthermore, possessing the ability to implement the secure & optimized app cache patterns (connections, data sizing, expiration, and encryption) is vital as well.
Career Opportunities
The main reason why many IT professionals sit for the Microsoft AZ-204 exam is not only the validation of their knowledge base but also the possibility to obtain the Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate certificate. This certification proves your level of expertise and gives you the opportunity to show the world why you are a valuable specialist. With this sought-after option, you will be able to become a Microsoft ETL Developer, a Software Developer, a SSAS Developer, a Database Developer, or an Azure Data Factory Developer. Also, you can get a higher income with an average salary of about $138,266 per annum.
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