Besides preparing for AZ-104, I am also preparing for the new AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure exam, which was announced to replace the AZ-203 Azure Developer exam. There are many great resources out there to prepare for the exam, that’s why I want to share my AZ-204 Microsoft Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure Certification Exam Study Guide with you. To learn and prepare for the exam, I usually use a couple of online resources, mainly Microsoft Docs and Microsoft Learn, which I am going to share with you. You can find more information about how I prepare for a Microsoft Certification exam on my blog post: How to prepare and pass Microsoft Certification Exam.
Also, check out other Microsoft Azure Certification Exam Study Guides:
- Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-303: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-304: Microsoft Azure Architect Design Certification Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-305: Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Certification Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-600: Configuring and Operating a Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure Stack Hub Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-700: Microsoft Azure Network Engineer Exam Study Guide
- Exam SC-900: Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals Exam Study Guide
- Exam DP-300: Azure Database Administrator Exam Study Guide
Here is my AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure Certification Exam Study Guide
It is essential to get familiar with the exam objectives and skills measured first. That is why I recommend reading the description of the exam and the skills measured.
Exam AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure
Candidates for this exam are cloud developers who participate in all phases of development from requirements definition and design, to development and deployment, and maintenance. They partner with cloud DBAs, cloud administrators, and clients to implement solutions.
Candidates should be proficient 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.Candidates must have 1-2 years professional development experience and experience with Microsoft Azure. They must be able to program in an Azure Supported Language.
The high-level view of the skills measured in the exam:
- Develop Azure compute solutions (25-30%)
- Develop for Azure storage (10-15%)
- Implement Azure security (20-25%)
- Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize Azure solutions (10-15%)
- Connect to and consume Azure services and third-party services (15-20%)
You can find more information on the exam website.
Free Online Microsoft Learn AZ-204 Exam Study Guide resources
Microsoft Learn provides you with free online training and learning paths for different Microsoft technologies. They not just offer reading material, but also control questions and free online labs. Here are some relevant Microsoft Learn modules and learning paths for the AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure Certification Exam. Microsoft Learn is an important part of my AZ-204 exam study guide.
- Create serverless applications (9 modules)
- Connect your services together (4 modules)
- Store data in Azure (5 modules)
- Deploy a website with Azure virtual machines (4 modules)
- Manage resources in Azure (6 modules)
- Deploy a website to Azure with Azure App Service (6 modules)
- Secure your cloud data (7 modules)
Microsoft Docs AZ-204 study guide resources
One thing I always used to prepare for my Microsoft exams is Microsoft Docs. Here are the relevant Microsoft Docs which I used to prepare and study for the AZ-204 exam.
Develop Azure compute solutions (25-30%)
Implement IaaS solutions
- provision virtual machines (VMs)
- configure, validate, and deploy ARM templates
- configure container images for solutions
- 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
- Build and store container images with Azure Container Registry (Microsoft Learn Module)
- publish an image to the Azure Container Registry
- run containers by using Azure Container Instance
- Run Docker containers with Azure Container Instances (Microsoft Learn Module)
- 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
- enable diagnostics logging
- deploy code to a web app
- configure web app settings including SSL, API, and connection strings
- implement autoscaling rules, including scheduled autoscaling, and scaling by operational or system metrics
Implement Azure functions
- create and deploy Azure Functions apps
- implement input and output bindings for a function
- implement function triggers by using data operations, timers, and webhooks
- implement Azure Durable Functions
- implement custom handlers
Develop for Azure storage (10-20%)
Develop solutions that use Cosmos DB storage
- select the appropriate API and SDK for a solution
- Choose the appropriate API for Azure Cosmos DB storage (Microsoft Learn module)
- Welcome to Azure Cosmos DB
- 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
- implement partitioning schemes and partition keys
- perform operations on data and Cosmos DB containers
- set the appropriate consistency level for operations
- manage change feed notifications
Develop solutions that use blob storage
- move items in Blob storage between storage accounts or containers
- set and retrieve properties and metadata
- perform operations on data by using the appropriate SDK
- implement storage policies, and data archiving and retention
Implement Azure security (20-25%)
Implement user authentication and authorization
- authenticate and authorize users by using the Microsoft Identity platform
- authenticate and authorize users and apps by using Azure Active Directory
- create and implement shared access signatures
Implement secure cloud solutions
- secure app configuration data by using App Configuration Azure Key Vault
- develop code that uses keys, secrets, and certificates stored in Azure Key Vault
- implement Managed Identities for Azure resources
- implement solutions that interact with Microsoft Graph
Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize Azure solutions (15-20%)
Integrate caching and content delivery within solutions
- configure cache and expiration policies for FrontDoor, CDNs, or Redis caches
- implement secure and optimized application cache patterns including data sizing,
connections, encryption, and expiration
Instrument solutions to support monitoring and logging
- configure an app or service to use Application Insights
- analyze log data and troubleshoot solutions by using Azure Monitor
- implement Application Insights Web Test and Alerts
Connect to and consume Azure services and third-party services (15-20%)
Implement API management
- create an APIM instance
- configure authentication for APIs
- define policies for APIs
Develop event-based solutions
Choose between Azure messaging services – Event Grid, Event Hubs, and Service Bus
- implement solutions that use Azure Event Grid
- implement solutions that use Azure Event Hubs
Develop message-based solutions
- implement solutions that use Azure Service Bus
- implement solutions that use Azure Queue Storage queues
Additional Tips and Resources
I hope this AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure Certification Exam Study Guide helps you pass the exam and get the Azure Developer certification. I also recommend that you open a free Azure account if you don’t have one yet. You can create your free Azure account here. Also, check out my blog posts about Microsoft Azure Certification:
- Why you should become Microsoft Azure certified
- How to pick the right Azure exam certification path
- How to prepare and pass a Microsoft Azure exam
- Learn Microsoft Azure in 2020
- AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam Study Guide
I hope you enjoyed my AZ-204 Study Guide. Did I miss any link, or do you have any recommended AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure Certification Exam Study resources? Let me know in the comments.




