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I'm looking around for Azure training so I can pursue a Microsoft Azure certification.
The list of online schools is very long. Does anyone have experience with online development training?
What does one look for when trying to decide upon a school?
The difficult we do right away...
...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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Be sure to buy some hip waders so you can handle that knee-deep shite in all those twisty little passages. 
modified 9-Jun-20 20:09pm.
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Coincidentally, I've just started explorting Azure and am having a lot of fun with a few producers of YouTube tutorials, as well as my (company provided) Pluralsight account. I find Mark Heath's courses on Pluralsight to be awesome.
/ravi
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There is probably an official / recommended book for the exam.
Pluralsight and Udemy are sites I've used. People usually leave ratings and comments.
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AFAIK @sanderrossel did the certification. But no idea how he prepared it.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Like I would need preparation!
Alright, I did, quite extensive preparations too, outlined below 
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And don't forget to see if they have a sample lesson to watch.
Some instructors are just...annoying.
I spent hours and hours listening to a guy pronounce linux "lye-nux" and call a - "minus" (I could have dealt with tack or dash, but minus?! )
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Microsoft did some free Azure Fundamentals courses a while back with the exam included, not sure if they still are. It was a day out with free beer and pizza and a certification thrown in. I guess they'd be virtual if they do them now, so you'd have to get your own beer/pizza.
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I used Udemy, especially the courses by Scott Duffy[^].
Scott Duffy doesn't have the AZ-301, so I used Skylines Academy[^] for that.
Be sure to buy those courses when they're €11,99 instead of €[insert higher number].
They're almost always on discount, but not always.
For the AZ-103 and AZ-300 I also used Sjoukje Zaal's books (because I was a technical reviewer for them at the time):
Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies: Exam Guide AZ-300[^]
Microsoft Azure Administrator – Exam Guide AZ-103[^]
I also checked the official exam page to see if anything had changed.
In fact, I just checked the page for Exam AZ-203: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure - Learn | Microsoft Docs[^] and found it has already been replaced by Exam AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure - Learn | Microsoft Docs[^] (that's the fourth exam on this subject in just one and a half year! )
The official documentation is often on point though, so be sure to check it for the exam topics.
For example, one of the points for AZ-204 is: configure web app settings including SSL, API, and connection strings
The following documentation lists a couple of those points: Azure App Service documentation - Azure App Service | Microsoft Docs[^]
Last, but not least, you'll also need a bit of luck.
There's A LOT of topics in the exam and you probably won't know them all equally well.
I got eight(!) questions on a topic I knew nothing about (Red Hat OpenShift, wtf) while a friend got zero questions on the same topic
For some exams you get Lab questions, which means you get a temporary Azure account and a question like "You need to store files and you need to make sure your files are available in the event of a data center outage for the lowest cost, what do you do?"
And then you need to create a Storage Account with GRS redundancy, but not GZRS because that's too expensive (really pay attention to "lowest cost" in questions!).
For these questions it doesn't matter how you create the Storage Account (or whatever you have to do), as long as it's there when you click "Done".
So these exams are not just theory anymore.
It's quite a lot, but even with my years of experience I didn't find these exams easy!
Good luck! 
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Thank you Sander.
I will check out Udemy and Scott Duffy's courses!
I have bookmarked this great post of yours.
The difficult we do right away...
...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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Hi Sander,
thanks for all this info.
I have some additional quick questions:
How long it took for you to prepare for the exam?
Did it help you in your professional life? (career boost, new contracts or jobs, etc.)
So far, I used many Azure services, never had any problem, but I used to learn as I needed the service, not all together.
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AReady wrote: How long it took for you to prepare for the exam?
I really don't know.
I've been preparing, stopping, preparing again, then stopping because Microsoft was replacing all the existing exams, etc.
All in all over a years with pauses.
Of course I still have my experience.
AReady wrote: Did it help you in your professional life? (career boost, new contracts or jobs, etc.)
Nope, It could have, but I started my own business and my current customers really don't ask for papers.
They just want the job done and know I can do it.
They also don't care much for technology and are fine with it being Azure, but if I told them they needed to buy a server they probably would do that too.
I currently have a customer who uses a (new) WinForms application and the database is running on a "server" that's just someone's computer.
So yeah, not much honor to be had in terms of Azure prowess
Before this I was a contractor, and those customers asked for certifications and if you had some you could easily earn a couple more €'s an hour.
Also, my employer really liked those certificates (because they could sell me better) so I would get a higher salary.
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MS Learn is pretty good. Apart from that MS has youtube channels like Microsoft Azure or Microsoft Developer.
From paid ones Udemy courses by Scott Duff (mentioned by Sander Rossel) is not bad to give you advice what to look for.
I would advice to start with learning paths for AZ900 if you are new to Azure as you will not know what is what and then start exploring development like AZ203(old)/AZ204(new).
There is also big community on like groups e.g. MeetUp.com or similar where you can attend free workshops led by MS professionals for free.
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My friend called me and said that he was sick of his fireplace exhaust vent.
Sounds to me like another case of the flue.
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other.
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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Trying to stoke up some controversy ?
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Safe, but amusing. 
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He just needs to get his ashes hauled.
Software Zen: delete this;
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I'm keeping 2M away from that joke.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Recovered my real account. Thank you Sean.
Hi there everyone!
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wizardzz wrote: Hi there everyone!
Are you talking to me?
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other.
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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yes
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjlYc8XLMNVsWhHwFstwtCg/videos
https://www.twitch.tv/funsimulation
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That's gotta be the second biggest mistake you've ever made.
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other.
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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I am afraid to say it publicy... but yes, I agree with him.
Answering his message might be one of your biggest errors  
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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refresh me on zurdo?
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjlYc8XLMNVsWhHwFstwtCg/videos
https://www.twitch.tv/funsimulation
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