AZ-204 Study App for iOS — Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure
Get exam-ready for AZ-204 (Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure) on iPhone or iPad — before the exam retires on 31 July 2026. Azure Mastery uses on-device AI to predict your readiness across all five developer domains, target your weakest area first, and flag SDK topics fading from memory. Built for working developers who need to ship the cert on a deadline.
The exam
What is the AZ-204 exam?
AZ-204 is the single exam required to earn the Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate credential — Microsoft's senior professional certification for application developers building on Azure. It sits at the Associate tier alongside AZ-104 (administrators), separate from but complementary to it: AZ-104 tests how you configure Azure, AZ-204 tests how you code against Azure.
AZ-204 is hands-on. Expect questions showing you a snippet of C#, Python, or JavaScript using the Azure SDK and asking what it does — Cosmos DB SDK calls, Azure Functions binding declarations, Service Bus message receivers, Key Vault retrievals via Managed Identity. The exam emphasises practical application development across compute (Containers, App Service, Functions), storage (Cosmos DB, Blob), security (Microsoft Identity, Key Vault, Managed Identity), monitoring (Application Insights), and integration (API Management, Event Grid, Event Hubs, Service Bus, Microsoft Graph).
⚠ Important: AZ-204 retires on 31 July 2026 at 11:59 PM Central Standard Time. Microsoft has not yet announced a successor exam. If you want the Azure Developer Associate credential, schedule and pass AZ-204 before this deadline. Already-earned certifications stay valid (and renewable) past the retirement; only new attempts at the AZ-204 exam itself are blocked. The current skills outline (last updated 14 January 2026) is final. Read it at learn.microsoft.com.
Questions40–60 multiple choice
Duration100 minutes (120 min seat)
Pass score700 / 1000
CostUSD $165 (≈ £128 UK)
ValidityRenew annually (Associate)
Retires31 July 2026
Skills measured · January 2026
AZ-204 exam objectives
Five developer-focused domains, with weights set by Microsoft's January 2026 update — the final outline before the 31 July 2026 retirement. Every domain summary below is paraphrased from the official skills outline. Bullet-level objectives in Azure Mastery are tagged so you always know which domain you're being tested on.
Develop Azure compute solutions25–30%
The largest domain. Containerised solutions — creating and managing container images, publishing to Azure Container Registry (ACR), running containers via Azure Container Instances (ACI) and Azure Container Apps (ACA). Azure App Service Web Apps — provisioning, diagnostics and logging, deploying code/containers, configuring TLS and API settings, autoscaling, and deployment slots. Azure Functions — function apps, input/output bindings, triggers from data ops, timers, and webhooks. Around 10–18 questions per sitting.
Develop for Azure storage15–20%
Develop solutions that use Azure Cosmos DB — perform operations on containers and items via the SDK, set the appropriate consistency level for operations, implement change feed notifications. Develop solutions that use Azure Blob Storage — set and retrieve properties and metadata, perform data operations via the appropriate SDK, implement storage policies and data lifecycle management. Heavy on SDK code samples — expect to read C# / Python / JavaScript snippets. Around 6–12 questions.
Implement Azure security15–20%
User authentication and authorisation via the Microsoft Identity platform and Microsoft Entra ID, plus shared access signatures. Secure app configuration with Azure App Configuration or Azure Key Vault. Develop code that uses keys, secrets, and certificates stored in Key Vault — including Managed Identities for Azure resources to avoid storing credentials in code. Around 6–12 questions.
Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize Azure solutions5–10%
The smallest domain — but easy marks if you know it. Monitor and troubleshoot solutions using Azure Monitor Application Insights — metrics, logs, traces, availability tests, alerts, and instrumenting an app or service to use Application Insights. Around 2–6 questions.
Connect to and consume Azure services and third-party services20–25%
Implement Azure API Management — create instances, document APIs, configure access, implement policies. Develop event-based solutions using Azure Event Grid and Event Hubs. Develop message-based solutions using Azure Service Bus and Queue Storage. Implement solutions that interact with Microsoft Graph. Around 8–15 questions.
Designed for AZ-204
How Azure Mastery helps you pass AZ-204
Azure Mastery ships with 318 AZ-204 practice questions mapped to the current (January 2026) skills outline — the final outline before the 31 July 2026 retirement. Each question carries a domain tag across the five developer domains. Real SDK code samples appear in the majority of questions: C#, Python, and JavaScript snippets calling Cosmos DB, configuring Azure Functions bindings, retrieving secrets via Managed Identity, publishing to Service Bus — matching the live exam's emphasis on application development, not infrastructure config.
The on-device Exam IQ engine predicts your AZ-204 score before you sit the exam. After roughly 30 questions it has enough signal to give a confidence-scored prediction (e.g. "708 ±60, 68% confidence") — and tells you the specific topics that are dragging your readiness down. No vague "study more" advice; just a ranked list of objectives where improvement would move your score the furthest.
The adaptive study plan rebuilds itself from your answer history. Get a Cosmos DB consistency-level scenario wrong? You'll see another Cosmos DB question in the next session. Master "managed identity vs SAS token vs access key" three sessions running and the engine backs off, surfacing fresh App Service or Service Bus scenarios. The plan optimises for the gap between where you are and the 700 pass score, not for blind volume.
Knowledge decay tracking matters more for AZ-204 than for foundational exams — five domains is a lot to retain, and the topic you mastered three weeks into your study window is the topic you'll forget by exam day if you stop revising. Azure Mastery tracks every topic's decay curve and flags topics approaching expiry. The padlock icon on the Today screen is your "revisit before you forget" cue, and weak-spot drills automatically pull from decayed topics first.
Real exam simulation mode runs at AZ-204's actual length and time pressure: a randomised 40–60-question set drawn from the full 318-question bank, weighted by domain percentages from the January 2026 outline, with the 100-minute timer running and no jumping back to flag-and-review. It's the closest you can get to the live Pearson VUE / online-proctored experience without sitting the exam.
Everything runs on-device. Your answer history, your readiness gauge, your decay alerts — none of it leaves your iPhone or iPad. No account required to start, no tracking, no sync server. Privacy-first by design.
5-week study plan
Suggested AZ-204 study plan
Working developers with C#, Python, or Node experience typically pass AZ-204 after four to six weeks of focused study. The five-week plan below front-loads compute (the largest domain) and works through the SDK-heavy storage and security domains second. Adjust pace to taste — the readiness gauge tells you when you're done, not the calendar. Don't leave it to the last fortnight before the 31 July 2026 retirement; vouchers and slots become scarce.
Compute solutions
Days 1–2: Containers — building images, ACR, ACI, ACA. Practise docker build + az acr build commands.
Days 3–4: Azure App Service Web Apps — TLS, autoscaling rules, deployment slots, swap with preview, configuration.
Days 5–7: Azure Functions — function apps, triggers (HTTP, timer, blob, queue, Service Bus), input/output bindings. Write actual function code in your language of choice.
Storage and security
Days 8–10: Cosmos DB SDK — CRUD on containers/items, consistency levels (Strong vs Bounded Staleness vs Session vs Consistent Prefix vs Eventual), change feed.
Days 13–14: Microsoft Identity, Microsoft Entra ID auth, SAS tokens, App Configuration vs Key Vault, Managed Identities (system-assigned vs user-assigned).
Monitoring + integration
Days 15–16: Application Insights — instrumenting an app, custom metrics/logs/traces, availability tests, smart alerts.
Days 17–19: API Management — instances, products, policies (rate limit, transform, cache), versioning.
Days 20–22: Event-based (Event Grid topics + subscriptions, Event Hubs partitioning + consumer groups) and message-based (Service Bus queues/topics, Queue Storage). Microsoft Graph SDK.
Sharpen
Days 23–28: Run Focus Weak Spots every morning — Azure Mastery surfaces the highest-leverage SDK code questions for your weakest domains. Decay alerts pull older topics back into rotation.
Simulate
Days 29–32: Two end-to-end Exam Simulator runs at full 100-minute length, days apart. Review carefully after each — pay attention to which SDK calls you mis-identified.
Days 33–34: One more simulator run. If scoring 750+ consistently, schedule the exam.
Day 35: Light review only. Sleep. Sit the exam.
Inside the app
Every Microsoft question type, on iPhone
AZ-204's question bank uses the same formats Microsoft puts on the live exam — not just multiple choice. Each visualisation below is a faithful mock of how the type renders inside Azure Mastery on iPhone and iPad. Exam-simulator mode runs all of them at full 100-minute length with no flag-and-review jumps, mirroring Pearson VUE.
Which Azure compute service is best for event-driven container workloads?
Azure Functions
Azure Container Apps
Azure Service Bus
Azure App Service
Multiple choice
One correct answer from four to six options. The most common type on every Azure exam — practical recall of services, settings, and limits.
~50% of questions
Select two services that support point-in-time restore.
Azure SQL Database
Azure Service Bus
Azure Cosmos DB
Azure Functions
Multi-select
Pick two or more correct answers from a list. Microsoft tells you exactly how many to choose. Partial credit not awarded — you need every selection right.
All-or-nothing
Order the steps to deploy a Bicep template.
⋮⋮1Create resource group
⋮⋮2az bicep build
⋮⋮3az deployment group create
⋮⋮4Verify outputs
Drag-and-drop
Arrange items into the correct sequence — deployment steps, the order operations occur in a pipeline, troubleshooting flows. Long-press to drag on touch.
Order matters
Tap the setting that enables soft delete on this storage account.
Hotspot
Tap the correct area of an image — the right setting in a portal screenshot, the right resource in a topology diagram. Practical visual recall under time pressure.
Tap target
Contoso Ltd needs to migrate 40 VMs from on-premises to Azure with an RTO of four hours and zero data loss…
1Which migration tool meets the RTO?
2What backup tier is required?
3Which network design supports failover?
4How should they configure RBAC?
Case studies
A multi-paragraph scenario followed by 4–6 linked questions. Common on AZ-204 in the storage and identity domains; dominant on AZ-305 and AZ-400.
Multi-question
✕Your answer: Azure Service Bus
✨ Why wrong:Service Bus is for enterprise messaging with FIFO & transactions. The scenario specifies massive event ingestion at high throughput — Event Hubs is the right primitive…
— generated on-device by Apple Foundation Model
Why Wrong AI
An Azure Mastery exclusive. When you answer incorrectly, an on-device Apple Foundation Model writes a targeted explanation grounded in the correct rationale. Never leaves your device.
App exclusive
Frequently asked
AZ-204 FAQs
When does AZ-204 retire?
AZ-204 retires on 31 July 2026 at 11:59 PM Central Standard Time. Microsoft has not yet published a direct successor exam. If you want the Azure Developer Associate credential, sit AZ-204 before this date. Already-earned certifications remain valid (and renewable) past the exam retirement; only new attempts at AZ-204 itself are blocked after retirement.
How much does the AZ-204 exam cost?
The AZ-204 voucher is USD $165 in the United States. Pricing varies by region — in the UK it's typically around £128. Microsoft sometimes runs free-voucher promotions during Microsoft Build or Ignite — worth checking before booking, especially with the July 2026 retirement deadline approaching. AZ-204 also requires annual renewal (free, online via Microsoft Learn) once earned.
Does the AZ-204 certification expire?
Yes. Microsoft Associate certifications — including Azure Developer Associate (which AZ-204 unlocks) — expire annually. Renewal is free: a 25–30 question online assessment on Microsoft Learn within the six-month window before your expiration date. The certification itself remains renewable even after the AZ-204 exam retires on 31 July 2026; renewals use the current skills outline at renewal time.
What is the AZ-204 retake policy if I fail?
The first retake is allowed after 24 hours. Second and third retakes each require a 14-day wait. Microsoft caps retakes at five attempts per 12-month rolling period. Each attempt requires a new voucher purchase. Plan retakes carefully against the 31 July 2026 retirement — a fail on day 1 plus two 14-day waits eats four weeks.
How long should I study for AZ-204?
Most candidates pass AZ-204 after four to six weeks of focused study, assuming professional .NET, Python, or Node experience. If you're new to writing against Azure SDKs (Cosmos DB, Blob, Service Bus, Functions bindings), plan eight to ten weeks. Azure Mastery's readiness gauge tells you when you're at exam-ready; don't book until it shows roughly 720 or higher with reasonable confidence.
AZ-204 vs AZ-104 — which should I take first?
Take whichever matches your day job. AZ-104 (Microsoft Azure Administrator) is for sysadmins and platform engineers; AZ-204 is for application developers. They cover overlapping infrastructure (App Service, Functions, Storage, Key Vault) but from different angles — AZ-104 asks "how do I configure X in the portal"; AZ-204 asks "how do I call X from the C# / Python SDK". With AZ-204 retiring 31 July 2026, the deadline pressure may push it ahead of AZ-104 in your queue.
Where AZ-204 fits
Certification paths that include AZ-204
AZ-204 unlocks the Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate credential as a terminal Associate cert, and counts as one of the two Associate-level prerequisites for the Expert-tier AZ-400 (DevOps Engineer Expert) credential. Tap any other exam to see its dedicated study app page.
With AZ-204 in hand, developers usually move into solution architecture (AZ-305) or DevOps (AZ-400). Both expect the developer-side experience AZ-204 validates.
Ready to pass AZ-204?
Download Azure Mastery free. 318 AZ-204 practice questions across all five developer domains, AI score prediction, full-length exam simulator, adaptive study plan. Built for working developers chasing the 31 July 2026 retirement deadline. iPhone & iPad.
