Microsoft AZ-204: Azure Developer Associate Practice Exam
Cover all five AZ-204 skill areas — Azure compute, storage, security, monitoring, and connecting to Azure and third-party services — with objective-mapped, scenario-based practice questions, immediate feedback in Learn mode, and full timed simulation in Exam mode.
Start 24-hour free trial →AZ-204 retires July 31, 2026 — still available for a limited time
Microsoft has scheduled the AZ-204 exam to retire on July 31, 2026, as part of a broader shift toward AI-focused developer certifications. The exam is still available to schedule and sit until that date, and if you pass before it retires, the Azure Developer Associate certification stays on your Microsoft transcript (renewable as usual).
If you are starting fresh and do not need AZ-204 specifically, Microsoft is steering the developer path toward the AI-focused AI-200 direction; for a role-based continuation available now, see AI-102 Azure AI Engineer. Always confirm the current schedule on Microsoft Learn.
AZ-204 exam at a glance
- Vendor
- Microsoft (Azure)
- Exam code
- AZ-204 (retires July 31, 2026)
- Certification
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate
- Level
- Associate (role-based; coding-intensive)
- Blueprint
- Skills measured as of January 14, 2026 (the current AZ-204 edition)
- Format
- Typically 40–60 questions; multiple choice, multiple response, drag-and-drop, and case studies
- Duration
- About 100–120 minutes
- Passing score
- 700 of 1000 (scaled, not a raw percentage)
- Delivery
- Pearson VUE test center or online proctored
- Recommended experience
- At least 2 years of programming experience and proficiency with Azure SDKs, CLI, and PowerShell
- Cost (USD)
- $165 USD list price (associate tier; varies by region)
- Validity
- Valid one year; renewed free via an online assessment on Microsoft Learn
Source: Microsoft Learn — AZ-204 study guide (skills measured) and the Azure Developer Associate certification page. AZ-204 retires July 31, 2026.
About the Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate certification
AZ-204 validates that you can design, build, test, secure, monitor, and maintain cloud applications and services on Microsoft Azure. Unlike infrastructure-focused Azure exams, it is squarely aimed at developers who write code that consumes Azure services — App Service and Functions, Cosmos DB and Blob Storage SDKs, the Microsoft identity platform and Key Vault, API Management, and event- and message-based integration. It is a hands-on, scenario-heavy exam that rewards real implementation experience over memorization.
AZ-204 is scheduled to retire on July 31, 2026, so time your attempt accordingly if you plan to take it. Microsoft is moving the developer track toward AI-focused certifications (the AI-200 direction). If you are new to Azure, start with AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals first; from there, AZ-204 is the natural application-development step, and AI-102 Azure AI Engineer is the AI-forward continuation aligned with where Microsoft is taking the developer path.
Every PowerKram practice question maps to one of the five AZ-204 skill areas and links to the specific Microsoft Learn page it was derived from, so your weak spots become a focused reading list rather than a guess.
AZ-204 skill areas and weights
Five skill areas, with Azure compute solutions the single heaviest at 25–30%. Microsoft published each area as a weighting range rather than an exact percentage; the ranges below are reproduced as Microsoft stated them in the current edition.
Containerized solutions (container images, Azure Container Registry, Container Instances, and Azure Container Apps); Azure App Service web apps (deployment, diagnostics, TLS and settings, autoscaling, and deployment slots); and Azure Functions (app configuration, input/output bindings, and triggers).
Azure API Management (creating instances, documenting APIs, access, and policies); event-based solutions with Azure Event Grid and Event Hubs; and message-based solutions with Azure Service Bus and Queue Storage.
Azure Cosmos DB (SDK operations on containers and items, consistency levels, and change feed); and Azure Blob Storage (properties and metadata, SDK data operations, and storage policies with data lifecycle management).
User authentication and authorization with the Microsoft identity platform and Microsoft Entra ID, shared access signatures, and Microsoft Graph; and secure solutions using Azure App Configuration, Azure Key Vault (keys, secrets, certificates), and managed identities.
Monitoring and troubleshooting with Azure Monitor Application Insights — analyzing metrics, logs, and traces; implementing availability tests and alerts; and instrumenting an app or service with Application Insights.
Source: Microsoft Learn — AZ-204 study guide (skills measured, as of January 14, 2026). Microsoft published weightings as ranges; Azure compute solutions is the heaviest area.
Who AZ-204 is for
Azure Developer Associate is aimed at working developers who build on Azure:
- Cloud and application developers who write code that consumes Azure compute, storage, security, and integration services.
- Backend and full-stack engineers moving workloads to Azure and wanting to validate their platform skills.
- DevOps-minded developers who deploy, secure, and monitor Azure applications end to end.
- Experienced developers with at least two years of programming experience and familiarity with Azure SDKs, the CLI, and PowerShell.
AZ-204 is an associate-level exam, not an entry point — if you are new to Azure, take AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals first. Because AZ-204 retires July 31, 2026, plan your attempt if you want the credential; for the AI-forward developer direction Microsoft is moving toward, AI-102 Azure AI Engineer is the closest active path. For the roles this credential supports — with skills, tools, and salary ranges — see the Developer career path.
What this AZ-204 practice exam delivers
Learn mode
Get the correct answer, the explanation, and a direct link to the exact Microsoft Learn page each question was derived from — immediately after each question. Best for the implementation-pattern and SDK-behavior scenarios AZ-204 tests.
Exam mode
A timed run in the AZ-204 shape — roughly 40 to 60 questions in about 100 to 120 minutes, including case studies — so you build pacing for the exam’s scenario-heavy format.
Source-linked explanations
Every answer cites the exact Microsoft Learn documentation page it was built from — so you can verify service behavior and SDK details, not just memorize.
Score by skill area
Results break down by the five AZ-204 areas — compute, connect/integrate, storage, security, and monitoring — so practice tells you exactly which area to revisit.
Sample AZ-204 practice questions
Ten free questions across the five AZ-204 skill areas, with full explanations and source links to the Microsoft Learn pages each is derived from. The complete bank is available with the 24-hour trial.
A developer needs to run small, event-driven pieces of code that scale automatically and are billed only for execution time, with no server management — for example, processing a file whenever one is uploaded to Blob Storage.
Which Azure compute service fits best?
- Azure Virtual Machines
- Azure Functions
- Azure Container Registry
- Azure Key Vault
Show answer & explanation
Correct: B — Azure Functions. Functions is Azure’s serverless compute service: small, event-driven code with automatic scaling and consumption-based billing, triggered by events like a Blob upload — exactly the scenario described.
Why not the others: Virtual Machines (A) require server management; Container Registry (C) stores container images; Key Vault (D) stores secrets. None is serverless event-driven compute.
Source: Microsoft Learn — Azure Functions overview → Further reading: PowerKram — AZ-400 DevOps Engineer Expert →A team wants to deploy a new version of a web app to a staging slot, validate it, then swap it into production with no downtime.
Which Azure App Service feature enables this?
- Change feed
- Shared access signatures
- Event subscriptions
- Deployment slots
Show answer & explanation
Correct: D — deployment slots. App Service deployment slots let you deploy to a staging slot, validate, and swap into production with no downtime (and warm-up) — exactly the zero-downtime release described.
Why not the others: change feed (A) is a Cosmos DB feature; shared access signatures (B) grant scoped storage access; event subscriptions (C) belong to Event Grid. None performs slot swaps.
Source: Microsoft Learn — Azure App Service →A developer has built a container image locally and needs a private, Azure-hosted registry to store and manage it before deploying to Azure Container Apps.
Which Azure service should they use?
- Azure Blob Storage
- Azure Cosmos DB
- Azure Container Registry
- Azure Service Bus
Show answer & explanation
Correct: C — Azure Container Registry. Azure Container Registry is a managed, private registry for storing and managing container images before deployment to services like Container Apps, Container Instances, or AKS — exactly the described need.
Why not the others: Blob Storage (A) stores unstructured objects, not container images with registry semantics; Cosmos DB (B) is a database; Service Bus (D) is messaging.
Source: Microsoft Learn — Azure Container Registry → Further reading: PowerKram — AZ-104 Azure Administrator →A globally distributed app needs a low-latency NoSQL database, and the developer must choose how strictly reads reflect the most recent writes across regions.
Which Azure Cosmos DB concept governs this trade-off?
- Consistency levels
- Deployment slots
- Managed identities
- Availability tests
Show answer & explanation
Correct: A — consistency levels. Cosmos DB offers a spectrum of consistency levels (from strong to eventual) that trade latency and availability against how strictly reads reflect the latest writes — exactly the trade-off described. AZ-204 expects you to set the appropriate level via the SDK.
Why not the others: deployment slots (B) are App Service; managed identities (C) are a security feature; availability tests (D) are an Application Insights feature. None governs read consistency.
Source: Microsoft Learn — Azure Cosmos DB →A developer wants to automatically move older blobs to a cooler, cheaper access tier and delete them after a retention period, without writing custom cleanup jobs.
Which Azure Blob Storage capability provides this?
- Change feed
- Lifecycle management policies
- API Management policies
- Conditional Access
Show answer & explanation
Correct: B — lifecycle management policies. Blob Storage lifecycle management policies automatically transition blobs between access tiers and expire (delete) them on a schedule — exactly the tiering-and-retention automation described, part of AZ-204’s storage-policy objectives.
Why not the others: change feed (A) records blob change events; API Management policies (C) apply to APIs; Conditional Access (D) is an identity control. None manages blob lifecycle.
Source: Microsoft Learn — Azure Blob Storage → Further reading: PowerKram — AZ-104 Azure Administrator →An Azure Function needs to read a secret from Azure Key Vault without any credentials stored in code or configuration.
Which approach should the developer use?
- A hardcoded connection string
- A shared access signature in the code
- A managed identity
- A public access key in App Settings
Show answer & explanation
Correct: C — a managed identity. A managed identity lets the Function authenticate to Key Vault through Microsoft Entra ID with no credentials in code or config; you grant the identity access to the vault — exactly the credential-free pattern AZ-204 tests.
Why not the others: a hardcoded connection string (A), an SAS in code (B), or a public key in App Settings (D) all embed secrets and are the anti-patterns managed identities exist to replace.
Source: Microsoft Learn — Azure Key Vault → Further reading: PowerKram — AZ-400 DevOps Engineer Expert →A developer must let a client app grant a user temporary, scoped, read-only access to a single blob container without sharing the storage account key.
Which mechanism provides this scoped, time-limited access?
- A shared access signature (SAS)
- A deployment slot
- An Event Grid subscription
- An Application Insights key
Show answer & explanation
Correct: A — a shared access signature (SAS). An SAS grants scoped, time-limited, permission-restricted access to storage resources — for example read-only access to one container — without exposing the account key, exactly as described.
Why not the others: a deployment slot (B) is App Service; an Event Grid subscription (C) routes events; an Application Insights key (D) is for telemetry. None grants scoped storage access.
Source: Microsoft Learn — Microsoft identity platform →A system needs reliable, ordered, decoupled delivery of messages between services, with features like sessions, dead-lettering, and transactions for enterprise workloads.
Which Azure messaging service fits best?
- Azure Event Grid
- Azure Service Bus
- Azure Blob Storage
- Azure App Configuration
Show answer & explanation
Correct: B — Azure Service Bus. Service Bus is the enterprise message broker offering reliable, ordered, decoupled delivery with sessions, dead-lettering, and transactions — exactly the described need. AZ-204 contrasts it with Event Grid (event distribution) and Queue Storage (simpler queues).
Why not the others: Event Grid (A) distributes discrete events, not ordered enterprise messaging; Blob Storage (C) stores objects; App Configuration (D) centralizes settings. None is the enterprise message broker.
Source: Microsoft Learn — Azure Service Bus → Further reading: PowerKram — AI-102 Azure AI Engineer →An organization wants to publish several backend APIs behind a single gateway that enforces rate limiting, applies transformation policies, and provides a developer portal.
Which Azure service provides this?
- Azure Event Hubs
- Azure Functions
- Azure API Management
- Azure Container Instances
Show answer & explanation
Correct: C — Azure API Management. API Management fronts backend APIs with a gateway that enforces policies (rate limiting, transformation, authentication), documents APIs, and offers a developer portal — exactly the described need.
Why not the others: Event Hubs (A) ingests high-volume event streams; Functions (B) runs serverless code; Container Instances (D) run containers. None is an API gateway.
Source: Microsoft Learn — Azure API Management →A developer wants to instrument a web app to collect request rates, response times, failure rates, and dependency telemetry, and to set alerts on availability.
Which Azure service provides this application performance monitoring?
- Azure Key Vault
- Azure Container Registry
- Azure Cosmos DB
- Azure Monitor Application Insights
Show answer & explanation
Correct: D — Azure Monitor Application Insights. Application Insights is Azure’s application performance monitoring service: it instruments apps to collect request, dependency, and failure telemetry and supports availability tests and alerts — exactly the described need, and the focus of AZ-204’s monitoring area.
Why not the others: Key Vault (A) stores secrets; Container Registry (B) stores images; Cosmos DB (C) is a database. None is an APM tool.
Source: Microsoft Learn — Application Insights overview →Keep going: study & career resources
AZ-204 sits in the middle of the Azure track. Below it, fundamentals build the base; beyond it, the DevOps and AI paths go deeper — and the developer career track shows where these skills lead.
Deep dive: AZ-204 format, the retirement, renewal, and study path
Exam format and scoring
AZ-204 delivers roughly 40 to 60 questions in about 100 to 120 minutes, with a passing score of 700 out of 1000 (scaled). It includes multiple choice, multiple response, drag-and-drop, and one or more case studies. It is a hands-on developer exam: expect scenarios about SDK behavior, service selection, authentication patterns, and messaging — not just definitions. There is no penalty for wrong answers. See the AZ-400 DevOps Engineer path →
The retirement — timing and successor
AZ-204 is scheduled to retire on July 31, 2026, as part of Microsoft’s shift toward AI-focused developer certifications. Until that date the exam is fully available; if you pass, the Azure Developer Associate certification remains on your transcript and follows the normal annual renewal. If you are not tied to AZ-204 specifically, Microsoft is steering new developers toward the AI-200 direction, and AI-102 (Azure AI Engineer) is a strong active option for AI-forward Azure development. See the AI-102 Azure AI Engineer path →
The five skill areas
Compute is the heaviest area (App Service, Functions, and containers with ACR, Container Instances, and Container Apps). Connecting and consuming services is next (API Management, Event Grid and Event Hubs, Service Bus and Queue Storage). Storage covers Cosmos DB and Blob SDK work; security covers the Microsoft identity platform, Key Vault, managed identities, and SAS; and monitoring covers Application Insights. Knowing which service fits a scenario — and the right SDK pattern — is the core AZ-204 skill. See the AZ-104 Administrator path →
Realistic study path
Most candidates need six to eight weeks, and hands-on practice matters more here than on fundamentals exams. Work through the official Microsoft Learn AZ-204 learning path with an Azure free account, build small solutions for each area (a Function, a Cosmos DB app, a Key Vault integration, a Service Bus consumer), then drill scenario questions in PowerKram’s Learn mode and finish with timed Exam-mode runs. Spend the most time on compute and on connecting/integrating services, since together they are roughly half the exam. See the AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals path →
Cost, renewal, and scheduling
List price is $165 USD (associate tier; regional pricing varies). The Azure Developer Associate certification is valid for one year and is renewed free through an online assessment on Microsoft Learn during the six months before it expires. The exam is delivered through Pearson VUE at a test center or online with a proctor. Microsoft sometimes offers discounted or free vouchers through Virtual Training Day events. Azure Developer Associate certification page →
Career outlook and next steps
AZ-204 validates practical Azure development skills that map directly to cloud-developer and backend-engineer roles. Natural next steps are AZ-400 (DevOps Engineer Expert) for CI/CD and release engineering, AI-102 (Azure AI Engineer) for AI-forward development, and AZ-305 (Solutions Architect Expert) for architecture. For working developers, it is a strong mid-career credential — just mind the July 31, 2026 retirement. Career Hub — Developer →
Microsoft AZ-204 (Azure Developer Associate) exam FAQ
Is AZ-204 retiring, and what replaces it?
What are the AZ-204 skill areas and weights?
What is the AZ-204 passing score and format?
What experience does AZ-204 require?
Does the certification expire?
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