Microsoft · 2026 Edition
A complete preparation guide written by Microsoft-certified engineers. Covers the exam format,all 5 blueprint domains, a week-by-week study plan, and proven tips for passing first time.
2–4 months
Prep time
Intermediate
Difficulty
50
Exam questions
700/1000
Pass mark
Exam code
AZ-204
Full name
Azure Developer Associate
Vendor
Microsoft
Duration
100 minutes
Questions
50 items
Passing score
700/1000 (scaled)
Domains covered
5 blueprint domains
Recommended experience
1–2 years of Azure development experience; proficiency in at least one Azure-supported programming language
Typical prep time
2–4 months
AZ-204 earns the Azure Developer Associate designation. It validates the skills to design, build, test, and maintain cloud applications and services on Azure — one of the most in-demand Azure certifications for software engineers.
Job roles this opens
Domain percentage weights are not currently available for this exam. The checklist below is still useful for planning your study.
Weeks 1–3
Azure Compute: App Service, Azure Functions, Container Apps, Container Instances
Tip: Know the Azure App Service plan tiers: Free/Shared (no SLA), Basic (manual scale), Standard (auto-scale, deployment slots), Premium (VNet integration). Deployment slots allow zero-downtime deployments via slot swap.
Weeks 4–5
Azure Storage: Blob Storage, Cosmos DB, Azure Cache for Redis
Tip: Azure Blob Storage access tiers — Hot (frequent), Cool (30-day minimum), Cold (90-day minimum), Archive (180-day minimum, offline) — directly affect cost and retrieval latency. Know lifecycle management policies that automate tier transitions.
Weeks 6–8
Azure Security: Managed Identity, Key Vault, Microsoft Entra ID, OAuth 2.0/OIDC
Tip: Managed Identity is the preferred way to authenticate Azure services to other Azure services — it eliminates secrets in code. Know the difference between system-assigned (tied to resource lifecycle) and user-assigned (independent lifecycle, reusable across resources) managed identities.
Weeks 9–11
API Management, Message-Based Solutions, Monitoring
Tip: Messaging service selection by scenario: Service Bus for reliable message delivery with dead-lettering; Event Grid for reactive event-driven architectures; Event Hubs for high-throughput event streaming (telemetry, logs). Know when each applies.
AZ-204 has performance-based lab questions where you complete tasks in a live Azure environment. Practice in the Azure portal and with the Azure CLI before your exam date — reading documentation alone is not sufficient.
Azure Functions triggers and bindings are heavily tested. Know the common triggers: HTTP, Timer, Blob Storage, Service Bus, Event Hub, Event Grid, Cosmos DB. Bindings connect your function to data without writing connection code.
Azure Key Vault access models: Vault access policy (legacy) vs Azure RBAC (resource-level, recommended). RBAC roles (Key Vault Administrator, Key Vault Secrets User) are more granular and the preferred approach for new implementations.
Application Insights automatically instruments Azure App Service, Functions, and container apps when enabled, and provides distributed tracing via Application Map — a dependency graph showing where latency occurs.
Cosmos DB partition key selection: a good partition key has high cardinality (many distinct values), distributes writes evenly, and appears in most query filters. A poor partition key (e.g. a boolean) creates hot partitions that throttle throughput.
Apply everything in this guide with adaptive practice questions, detailed answer explanations, and domain analytics.
Deep-dive explanations of the key topics tested on AZ-204 — with exam key points and common misconceptions.