I was 10 months into a DevOps role (using Azure) before I took the AZ-204 Azure Developer Associate certification exam. I also had 6+ years of experience with AWS cloud with 6 AWS certifications under my belt (most of which has expired in the last year).
Comparing the two (AWS vs Microsoft), I can say that Microsoft has a better exam format that tests not just your ability to answer multiple-type and multi-select questions, but also your analysis, developer, and architecting capabilities. The exam format is 100 minutes long, with 48 questions (10 for two case studies, 38 for generic questions). There are simple coding questions (finding the right commands), selecting the right service, and implementation steps questions ensuring mastery of Azure development before gaining the coveted certification.
It was definitely harder than most of the AWS exams I took before (with the exception of AWS DevOps Professional, which is expected as the latter is pro-level). I am sharing a few tips below to give an overview of the exam.
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1. Study, study, study!
This is not an exam that you can pass through memorization. It is better to be familiar with services (what they do and when to use them), navigation through the Azure portal, and real life implementation (may incur costs even with a free account). It is also recommended to be familiar with a few recommended cloud or hybrid architectures to be able to handle the *case study * sections well.
The path I took when studying goes like this:
- Go through the Azure Developer Associate preparation in Microsoft Learn.
- Take the practice assessment multiple times until you consistently earn around 78% or above in score.
- Take the practice tests of Tutorials Dojo for Microsoft Azure Developer Associate. For me, TD has created a very similar experience to the actual exam having questions that are drag-and-drop, multi-select and drop-down for coding. Having gone through it definitely helped a lot in what to expect in the actual exam.
- Take notes when reviewing your practice exams. Understand why an answer is incorrect and not just why something fits. It helps in the process of elimination during the exam.
2. Be familiar with Microsoft Learn Documentation
I didn't realize that Microsoft Learn can be accessed during the exam and just discovered it about 30 minutes in! Despite this, the exam is still time-crunched so being familiar with how to search through Microsoft documentation fast will help add in points.
3. Make use of marked for review
Always reserve time to review items that you are not 100% certain of. Sometimes, going through the whole exam will help you determine if you answered a few questions incorrectly (especially on question formats that are in series).
4. Do actual practice
The exam is not foundational, meaning it would be extremely hard to pass without an actual cloud experience. Be sure to at least create an Azure portal account and follow labs before taking the exam. Be sure to also be familiar with basic az commands as these appear pretty frequently in the exam.
If you have any questions for me, feel free to drop them in the comments section. Good luck!
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