How I passed the Microsoft Azure AZ-204 exam?

So this week I passed the Microsoft Azure’s AZ-204 exam and became Microsoft Certified Azure Developer Associate.

Yay! Yes! 😀

In this post I will be sharing what I did to pass this exam!

Overview

Microsoft says the candidates should have subject matter expertise in designing, building, testing, and maintaining cloud applications and services on Microsoft Azure. I agree with this as I have been developing solutions on Azure since last year or so and it definitely requires hands-on practice of the Azure platform.

The person should also have ability to program in a language supported by Azure like C# or Python 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.

Skills measured with this exam

Develop Azure compute solutions (25-30%)
Develop for Azure storage (15-20%)
Implement Azure security (20-25%)
Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize Azure solutions (15-20%)
Connect to and consume Azure services and third-party services (15-20%)

Exam Cost

The exam costs around USD $165 in US and INR 4800 in India.

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

How to prepare:

It took me 5 Weeks to prepare for this exam.

Week 1 & 2: Start with AZ-204 course on Microsoft Learn portal

Use this link to get started: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-204#two-ways-to-prepare
The are 7 parts in this learning path, cover all those
2 weeks are enough for this, make notes
Use azure sandboxes to do hands-on with core azure services – IMP

Week 3: Scott Duffy’s course on Udemy

I used Scott Duffy’s course on Udemy to go through each service
Use this link to buy the course: https://www.udemy.com/course/70532-azure/
It is just 8hrs long and helped me cover most services at 1.5x speed
You can easily finish this course in a week

Week 4: Practice tests

Whizlabs is my go to platform for Practice tests
Use this link to buy the practice tests: https://www.whizlabs.com/microsoft-azure-certification-az-204/
There are 4 practice papers, practice all of them, try giving one per day and review incorrect answers

Exam Day

Revisit the core concepts services like Azure Functions, App Services, Service Bus – Topics & Queues, Event Grid & Hubs, Azure AD, Azure VMs, Cosmos DB, Azure API Management policies etc.
The exam is of 130 mins, with 40-60 questions
The exam is neither very easy not tough so if you have covered all topics it should be easier to pass.
Login to Pearson VUE 30 mins prior to exam time and carry a valid ID and prepare your desk accordingly if you are attempting from home

This exam is not very difficult to pass! It takes time and practice to prepare but nothing impossible. The thing is to find your learning routine and constant progress! Good Luck! 🙂