Microsoft · AZ-204
Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate (AZ-204) Practice Tests
Validates your ability to design, build, test, and maintain cloud applications and services on Microsoft Azure, including compute solutions, storage, security, monitoring, and service integration.
Exam Details
Practice Questions
640
≈ 12 practice exams
Duration
100 minutes
Passing Score
700/1000
Difficulty
AssociateLast Updated
Jun 2026
Topics Covered
Azure Compute SolutionsAzure StorageAzure SecurityMonitoring and OptimizationAzure Services Integration
AZ-204 Practice Exam (Retiring July 31, 2026)
Microsoft is retiring Exam AZ-204 and the Azure Developer Associate certification on July 31, 2026. If you plan to earn this credential, you need to pass before that cutoff, so focused practice now matters more than ever. This AZ-204 practice exam helps you move quickly through the topics that carry the most weight while there is still time to certify.
The questions mirror what AZ-204 actually tests: developing Azure compute solutions (25-30%), working with Azure storage (15-20%), implementing security (15-20%), monitoring and optimizing solutions (5-10%), and connecting to Azure and third-party services (20-25%). Because it is an intermediate, code-heavy exam that expects hands-on work with the Azure SDKs, CLI, and PowerShell, the explanations focus on why an approach is correct rather than on memorizing service names.
Start with the free preview to find weak areas, then drill the full bank in short timed sessions. You have 100 minutes on test day and need a scaled score of 700 out of 1000. If you are close to ready, schedule your exam before the July 31, 2026 retirement date.
Exam Domain Breakdown
Develop Azure compute solutions28%
Develop for Azure storage18%
Implement Azure security18%
Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize Azure solutions8%
Connect to and consume Azure services and third-party services23%
Exam Overview
The Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate certification, earned by passing Exam AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure, validates a developer's ability to participate in all phases of cloud application development on Azure—from requirements gathering and design through deployment, security, performance tuning, and monitoring. The exam covers the full spectrum of Azure development skills, including compute solutions (App Service, Azure Functions, Container Apps, Container Instances), storage (Blob Storage, Azure Cosmos DB), security (Microsoft Entra ID, Key Vault, Managed Identities), observability (Application Insights), and service integration (API Management, Event Grid, Event Hubs, Service Bus, Queue Storage).
Last updated on January 14, 2026, the certification reflects current Azure SDK usage patterns and modern cloud-native development practices. Candidates are expected to work proficiently with Azure SDKs, Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, and directly with Azure REST APIs. The certification is positioned at the intermediate (associate) level and is widely recognized across industries as a credible signal of hands-on Azure development capability.
Who Should Take This Exam
This certification targets software developers with at least two years of professional programming experience who are actively building or planning to build cloud-native applications on Azure. Relevant job titles include Azure Developer, Cloud Application Developer, Cloud Solutions Engineer, and Full-Stack Developer with Azure specialization. Candidates typically collaborate with cloud solution architects, DBAs, DevOps engineers, and infrastructure administrators to deliver end-to-end solutions.
The AZ-204 is also a direct stepping stone for developers pursuing the AZ-400: DevOps Engineer Expert certification or adjacent paths such as Azure AI Engineer Associate. It is well-suited for developers transitioning from on-premises .NET, Java, Python, or Node.js backgrounds into cloud-first roles, as well as those already working in Azure environments who want a formal credential to validate their expertise.
Prerequisites
Microsoft does not enforce formal prerequisites to register for AZ-204, but the official audience profile specifies that candidates should have at least two years of professional programming experience and proficiency working with Azure SDKs, Azure CLI, and Azure PowerShell. Familiarity with at least one Azure-supported programming language (C#/.NET, Python, Java, or JavaScript/Node.js) is effectively required, as exam questions are grounded in SDK-level implementation details.
Candidates with no prior Azure exposure are strongly advised to first complete the AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam and accumulate hands-on experience deploying and managing Azure resources. Practical experience with compute services (App Service, Azure Functions), data storage (Blob Storage, Cosmos DB), identity (Microsoft Entra ID), and networking basics will significantly reduce preparation time and improve exam performance.
Exam Format
Exam AZ-204 is a proctored assessment with a 100-minute time limit, delivered through Pearson VUE either at a testing center or via online proctoring. The exam may include interactive lab components in addition to traditional question types such as multiple choice, drag-and-drop, case studies, and short-answer scenarios. Microsoft does not publicly disclose a fixed question count; candidates typically report encountering 40–60 scored items, but this varies.
Scoring is on a scale of 1–1000, with a passing score of 700 required. The exam is available in English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Korean, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), and Italian. Candidates who test in a non-English language may request an additional 30 minutes. The certification expires after 12 months but can be renewed at no cost by passing a free online renewal assessment on Microsoft Learn, available starting six months before expiration.
Skills Measured
- 1.Develop Azure compute solutions (25–30%): Covers implementing containerized solutions using Azure Container Registry, Container Instances, and Container Apps; building and deploying Azure App Service Web Apps including TLS configuration, deployment slots, and autoscaling; and creating Azure Functions with triggers (data operations, timers, webhooks) and input/output bindings.
- 2.Develop for Azure storage (15–20%): Covers developing solutions with Azure Cosmos DB using the SDK—performing operations on containers and items, setting consistency levels, and implementing change feed notifications—as well as Azure Blob Storage operations, metadata management, storage policies, and data lifecycle management.
- 3.Implement Azure security (15–20%): Covers user authentication and authorization using the Microsoft Identity platform and Microsoft Entra ID; implementing shared access signatures; working with Microsoft Graph; securing app configuration data with Azure App Configuration and Azure Key Vault; using keys, secrets, and certificates from Key Vault; and implementing Managed Identities for Azure resources.
- 4.Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize Azure solutions (5–10%): Covers using Azure Monitor Application Insights to monitor metrics, logs, and traces; implementing availability tests and alerts; and instrumenting applications or services to emit telemetry to Application Insights.
- 5.Connect to and consume Azure services and third-party services (20–25%): Covers implementing Azure API Management (creating instances, authoring and documenting APIs, configuring access, and applying policies); building event-based solutions using Azure Event Grid and Azure Event Hubs; and developing message-based solutions using Azure Service Bus and Azure Queue Storage.
Study Tips
- Use the official AZ-204 study guide on Microsoft Learn (https://aka.ms/AZ204-studyguide) as your primary syllabus—it lists every domain, sub-skill, and percentage weight, and is updated to the January 14, 2026 version of the exam.
- Complete Microsoft Learn's official AZ-204 learning path, which includes free self-paced modules, hands-on sandboxes, and exercises directly tied to each exam domain. Prioritize the highest-weighted domains: compute (25–30%) and service integration (20–25%) first.
- Take the free official Practice Assessment on Microsoft Learn (assessmentId=35) early and repeatedly—it mirrors the real exam's wording and question style and identifies knowledge gaps by domain so you can focus your remaining study time efficiently.
- Build actual Azure resources in a personal Azure subscription or free trial account. Key hands-on exercises include deploying an Azure Function with Service Bus triggers, publishing a container to Azure Container Registry and running it in Container Apps, configuring Key Vault references in App Service, and wiring up Application Insights to a deployed app.
- Study the Azure SDKs directly using the official Azure documentation linked in the study guide—exam questions are often SDK-level (e.g., which SDK class or method to call), not just conceptual. Focus on the SDKs for Blob Storage, Cosmos DB, Key Vault, Service Bus, and Event Hubs.
- Watch the Exam Readiness Zone video series on Microsoft Learn, which features Microsoft engineers walking through each of the five exam domains with exam-focused tips and scenario walkthroughs (search 'AZ-204' on https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/shows/exam-readiness-zone/).
- Use the Exam Sandbox (https://aka.ms/examdemo) to familiarize yourself with the proctored exam interface and interactive question types before exam day, reducing time spent on UI navigation during the actual exam.
Career Benefits
The AZ-204 certification opens access to high-demand roles such as Azure Developer, Cloud Application Developer, Cloud Solutions Engineer, and Senior Azure DevOps Engineer. Azure developer roles in the United States command salaries broadly ranging from $97,000 to $183,000 depending on seniority, specialization, and location, with median figures for certified professionals typically falling in the $130,000–$160,000 range. The U.S. market currently lists tens of thousands of open cloud engineering roles requiring exactly the skills AZ-204 validates, driven by enterprise cloud migration, distributed-team infrastructure needs, and data-intensive application development.
Beyond immediate salary impact, AZ-204 serves as a prerequisite stepping stone to the AZ-400: DevOps Engineer Expert certification and creates pathways into specialized areas including Azure AI engineering and IoT solution development. Microsoft's annual free renewal model means the credential stays current without additional exam fees, and pairing it with deployed GitHub portfolio projects and Microsoft Applied Skills credentials significantly strengthens a candidate's profile for senior roles and technical interviews.
Sample Questions
5 sample questions with answers and explanations. The full bank has 640 questions, enough for 12 full-length practice exams.
Preview — answers shown1. An IoT company, 'SensorGrid', has a fleet of devices that send telemetry data to an Azure Event Hub. To ensure data is processed efficiently and in parallel, they have configured the Event Hub with 16 partitions. They are building a consumer application using the .NET SDK. Which client class is specifically designed to distribute the processing of these 16 partitions across multiple instances of the consumer application automatically?
AEventHubProducerClient
BEventProcessorClient
CEventHubConsumerClient
DPartitionReceiver
Explanation
The Azure SDK for Event Hubs provides different client types for different consumption scenarios, from simple reading to complex, scalable processing. Correct Answer: The EventProcessorClient is the high-level client designed for production scenarios requiring scalable and resilient event processing. It automatically handles the distribution of partitions among multiple running instances of your application (load balancing) and manages checkpointing to keep track of the processing state. This significantly simplifies the development of a robust, parallel consumer application. Incorrect Answers: - EventHubProducerClient is for sending events, not consuming them. - EventHubConsumerClient is a lower-level client suitable for simple scenarios but does not provide the automatic load balancing and checkpoint management of the EventProcessorClient. - PartitionReceiver is an even lower-level type used for directly receiving from a single partition and is typically managed by the higher-level clients.
2. A document management system for a law firm, LexiCorp Legal, needs to perform Optical Character Recognition (OCR) on any PDF uploaded to an Azure Storage container. The OCR process must begin within 60 seconds of the upload to ensure documents are searchable quickly. Which of the following is the most suitable and direct approach to trigger this process?
ACreate an Azure Function with a Blob trigger that monitors the specific container.
BConfigure an on-premise server to poll the blob container using the REST API.
CSchedule a recurring Logic App to scan the container for new files every five minutes.
DEnable the Blob Storage change feed and have a background service poll it for new entries.
Explanation
The correct answer is to use an Azure Function with a Blob trigger. Here's why: An Azure Function with a Blob trigger is specifically designed for scenarios where code needs to execute in response to a new or updated blob. It provides a highly efficient, low-latency, serverless mechanism that easily meets the sub-60-second requirement. It is the most direct and idiomatic Azure solution for this problem. Why the others are incorrect: The Logic App approach is incorrect because a five-minute polling interval does not meet the requirement to start processing within 60 seconds. The Blob Storage change feed approach is incorrect because the change feed is primarily designed to provide a complete, ordered log of all changes to blobs for auditing or replication purposes, not for triggering individual, real-time actions. Polling the change feed would add unnecessary complexity and latency compared to a direct trigger. The on-premise server approach is incorrect because it introduces an inefficient polling mechanism and a dependency on an on-premise server, which goes against the principles of a modern, cloud-native design.
3. A team is deploying a containerized application to an Azure App Service on Linux from a private Azure Container Registry (ACR). The App Service needs to be able to pull the image from the ACR. To follow security best practices, they want to avoid using the ACR's admin user credentials. What is the recommended way to grant the App Service access to the ACR?
AMake the image in the ACR public.
BStore the ACR username and password in the App Service's application settings.
CEnable a system-assigned managed identity for the App Service and assign it the AcrPull role on the ACR.
DConfigure a webhook in ACR to push the image to the App Service.
Explanation
Azure provides a secure, identity-based mechanism for its services to access each other. Correct Answer: The recommended approach is to use a managed identity. By enabling a system-assigned managed identity for the App Service, an identity is created for it in Microsoft Entra ID. You can then grant this identity the AcrPull role on the Azure Container Registry. This role provides the necessary pull permissions. The App Service can then authenticate to the ACR using its managed identity without any need for passwords or other credentials to be stored. Incorrect Answers: - Webhooks are for notifications, not for granting pull access. - Storing credentials in application settings is less secure than using a managed identity. - Making the image public would expose it and is a security risk for a private application.
4. The 'APIHub' company has several REST APIs implemented as an Azure Function App running on a Consumption plan. To ensure reliability, they need to monitor the availability of the API endpoints and get alerted if any endpoint is down or responding too slowly. What is the most appropriate way to set up this external monitoring using Application Insights?
AAdd a diagnostic setting to the Function App to send logs to Application Insights.
BCreate a custom, timer-triggered function that calls telemetryClient.TrackAvailability() for each endpoint.
CCreate a custom, timer-triggered function that calls telemetryClient.TrackMetric() to report response times.
DCreate a standard URL ping test in Application Insights for each API endpoint.
Explanation
The most appropriate method is to create standard URL ping tests. Here's why: The requirement is to monitor the functions externally to check for availability and responsiveness. A standard URL ping test (now called a Standard test) in Application Insights is the perfect tool for this. You can create a separate test for each important API endpoint URL. Application Insights will then periodically make requests to these URLs from various geographic locations, measure the response time, and validate the success code. You can easily set up alerts based on test failures or slow response times. This is the out-of-the-box solution and requires no custom code. Why the other approaches are incorrect: Adding diagnostic settings to send logs to Application Insights is for sending internal logs and telemetry from the function's execution, not for external availability testing. Creating custom timer-triggered functions that call either TrackMetric() or TrackAvailability() involves writing custom code to do what the standard availability tests already provide as a managed feature. These custom implementations would require additional development effort, maintenance, and consume function execution time unnecessarily when a built-in monitoring solution exists specifically for this purpose.
5. A company's public-facing website must have its availability monitored from both North America and Europe. An alert must be sent if the homepage fails to load or if its response time exceeds 4 seconds from either location. Which specific Application Insights feature should be configured to meet this requirement?
AA metric alert on the 'Server response time' metric.
BAn availability test with multiple geographic locations enabled.
CA Kusto query that runs on a schedule.
DA Live Metrics stream session.
Explanation
The feature to configure is an availability test with multiple locations. Availability tests in Application Insights are designed for exactly this purpose. You can create a test that pings your application's URL from various datacenters around the world. You can configure multiple locations (e.g., a US location and a European location) for a single test. The test can check for a successful HTTP status code (200 OK) and also validate the response time. The alerting is built-in; if any of the configured locations fail the test criteria, an alert is automatically triggered. A metric alert on server response time only measures the backend processing time, not the end-to-end network latency from a user's perspective. The other options are not designed for proactive availability testing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the AZ-204 exam being retired?
Yes. Microsoft retires Exam AZ-204 and the Azure Developer Associate certification on July 31, 2026. After that date you can no longer take or renew it, so schedule before the cutoff if you are close to ready.
What replaces AZ-204 after it retires?
As of mid-2026, Microsoft has not published a direct successor exam for the Azure Developer Associate path. Watch the official Microsoft Learn certifications page for the updated developer credential.
How much does the AZ-204 exam cost?
AZ-204 costs USD $165 in the United States. The price varies by the country or region where you take the exam.
What score do I need to pass AZ-204?
You need 700 on a scale of 100 to 1000. It is a scaled score, not a straight percentage.
How many questions are on AZ-204 and how long is it?
You get 100 minutes. Microsoft does not publish a fixed question count, but it is typically 40 to 60 items, including multiple choice, drag and drop, and sometimes case studies.
Is AZ-204 hard?
It is an intermediate, code-heavy exam that expects real hands-on Azure development experience with the SDKs, CLI, and PowerShell. Most candidates find it harder than the AZ-900 fundamentals exam.
Are there prerequisites for AZ-204?
There are no formal prerequisites. Microsoft recommends about two years of programming experience plus familiarity with the Azure SDKs and tooling.
What does AZ-204 cover?
Developing Azure compute solutions (25-30%), Azure storage (15-20%), Azure security (15-20%), monitoring and optimization (5-10%), and connecting to and consuming Azure and third-party services (20-25%).
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