The AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure certification exam tests and validates your expertise as an Azure Developer. This exam tests your expertise across all phases of the Microsoft Azure development process; from solution design, to development and deployment, to testing and maintenance.

AZ-204 Certification Target Audience

The AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure certification exam is geared towards Azure Developers who participate in all phases of the development process; from requirements definition and design, to development and deployment, and maintenance. Candidates should be proficient in the Azure SDKs, data storage options, data connections, APIs, app authentication and authorization, compute and container deployment, debugging, performance tuning, and monitoring.

Candidates are expected to have between 1 and 2 years professional development experience and experience with Microsoft Azure. They will be expected to be able to write code using an Azure supported language; such as C#, Java, or others.

AZ-204 Exam Objective Domains

Here’s a very high level list of the skills and objective domains measured on the AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure certification exam. The percentages next to each objective area represents the number of questions in that objective area on the exam.

Develop Azure compute solutions (25-30%)

• Implement IaaS solutions
  • provision VMs
  • create ARM Templates
  • create container images for solutions
  • publish an image to the Azure Container Registry
  • run containers by using Azure Container Instance
• Create Azure App Service Web Apps
  • create an Azure App Service Web App
  • enable diagnostics logging
  • configure web app settings
  • implement autoscaling rules (schedule, operational/system metrics)
• Implement Azure functions
  • implement input and output bindings for a function
  • implement function triggers by using data operations, timers, and webhooks
  • implement Azure Durable Functions

Develop for Azure storage (10-15%)

• Develop solutions that use Cosmos DB storage
  • select the appropriate API for your solution
  • implement partitioning schemes
  • interact with data using the appropriate SDK
  • set the appropriate consistency level for operations
  • create Cosmos DB containers
• Develop solutions that use blob storage
  • move items in Blob storage between storage accounts or containers
  • set and retrieve properties and metadata
  • interact with data using the appropriate SDK
  • implement data archiving and retention

Implement Azure security (15-20%)

• Implement use authentication and authorization
  • implement OAuth2 authentication
  • create and implement shared access signatures
  • register apps and use Azure Active Directory to authenticate users
• Implement secure cloud solutions
  • secure app configuration data by using the App Configuration and KeyVault API
  • manage keys, secrets, and certificates by using the KeyVault API
  • implement Managed Identities for Azure resources

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

• Integrate caching and content delivery within solutions
  • develop code to implement CDN’s in solutions
  • configure cache and expiration policies
  • store and retrieve data in Azure Redis cache
• Instrument solutions to support monitoring and logging
  • configure instrumentation in an app or service by using Application Insights
  • analyze and troubleshoot solutions by using Azure Monitor
  • implement Application Insights Web Test and Alerts
  • implement code that handles transient faults

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

• Develop an App Service Logic App
  • create a Logic App
  • create a custom connector for Logic Apps
  • create a custom template for Logic Apps
• Implement API Management
  • create an APIM instance
  • configure authentication for APIs
  • define policies for APIs
• Develop event-based solutions
  • implement solutions that use Azure Event Grid
  • implement solutions that use Azure Notification Hubs
  • implement solutions that use Azure Event Hub
• Develop message-based solutions
  • implement solutions that use Azure Service Bus
  • implement solutions that use Azure Queue Storage queues

To view the full list of exam objectives, please reference the official AZ-204 exam page from Microsoft. Currently, it’s released in the same document as the AZ-203 objectives, until the official release of the AZ-204 exam expected in February 2020.

AZ-204 Azure Developer Training Courses

With the AZ-204 Azure Developer exam objectives just recently being announced, and the exam not yet being available, there aren’t any specific video courses that target this new exam just yet. Although, with this exam being a replacement for the similar AZ-203 Azure Developer certification exam, you could begin studying for this exam now by utilizing existing AZ-204 training courses and comparing them to the AZ-203 exam objectives as your guided study path.

NOTE: The AZ-204 exam was released on February 24, 2020, as a replacement for the AZ-203 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure certification exam. Instead of a straight replacement, Microsoft has a 90-day phased release schedule where both exams will be available until AZ-203 is finally retired on or around August 31, 2020.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate

Once a candidate passes either the AZ-203 or AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure certification exam they will earn the Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate certification.

The Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate is part of a job-role based restructuring of the Microsoft certifications that began back in late 2018. This particular certification is geared towards candidates who are Azure Developers in their normal job in designing and building cloud-based software solutions utilizing the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.

Take Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 Exam First

The AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure certification exam does not have any prerequisites to take. However, if candidates are new to Microsoft Azure development, then they may want to take the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals certification exam first. This will validate their knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of Microsoft Azure.

If candidates are new to the cloud, or to Microsoft Azure, then the AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals could be a good place to start.

What’s Next? The Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert!

Once a candidate has already earned the Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate certification (by passing either AZ-203 or AZ-204) they can take an additional exam to earn the full Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert certification. The DevOps Engineer Expert certification is earned on top of the Azure Developer Associate by taking and passing the additional AZ-400 Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions certification exam.

Happy studying!

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