I’m currently studying for Microsoft exam 70-532 - Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions. I do enjoy studying for exams. It’s hard, but it’s an excellent forcing function. I learn bits and pieces here and there now and then about this and that, but when I have an exam schedule for a set date, I have to study! And not only do I put in more hours, but I follow a more systematic approach. In this article, I’m going to share my approach and give you my study guide for exam 70-532 in case you too are studying and this method works for you.

Here’s my strategy…

1. Visit the official exam page

   For 70-532, the page is at https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/exam-70-532.aspx

2. Click show all under the Skills Measured section and copy the whole thing

3. Paste it into a OneNote notebook

4. Format it by breaking all of the skill points out onto separate lines and adding checkboxes

5. Study each point and check it off when I feel like I understand

Here’s what it ends up looking like when I’m done…

So I start by asking myself if I know what a _deployment slot _is. I don’t. I Bing it and find something like this Staged Deployment on Microsoft Azure Websites article that does an excellent job of defining the term and goes on to discuss the next point roll back deployments as well. So I read up, try it myself, grok the concept, then check the boxes. Simple as that. Notice I said that my study process is simple. The concept aren’t always, but then that’s one of the reasons I like software… it’s complicated!

So attached you’ll find a OneNote notebook that’s yours to keep. Just open it up, start studying, and start checking. And give me a shout on Twitter when you pass the exam! Best of luck!

70-532 Study Guide.one

If you’re looking to take an exam and get MCSD certified, have I got a deal for you!

I’m going to give away 25 (that means you have a high chance of winning!) coupons that will get you two exams for the price of one.

Here’s what you do to qualify…

• Follow me on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/codefoster)
• Retweet this tweet
• Cross your fingers

I’ll randomly draw 25 people out of everyone that qualifies and send them a code via email to redeem your prize.

The drawing will be Friday, Oct 25.

It’s was a big day in Building 33 as 100 or so people gathered to write Windows 8 apps, compete for prizes, and hopefully learn a little something along the way. One of the things attendees learned was that Microsoft Learning (MSL) is really rockin’ the Microsoft certifications lately. Paul Lee joined us at the hackathon to talk about the state of Microsoft certifications. They have tracks that based on software solutions and the technologies a developer would use to create them.

The one I’m excited about is the MCSD: Windows Store Apps - HTML5. Which you can earn if you take the 70-480, 70-481, and 70-482 exams. And actually, the first of those exams is free (for now) if you go to http://www.register.prometric.com to schedule your exam and use HTMLJMP as your promo code. If you want help studying for 70-480 and 70-481, you can take a look at the JumpStart videos that Michael Palermo and I recorded at http://aka.ms/jump480 and http://aka.ms/jump481.

Attached are the slides that Paul presented.

HackathonOffer.pptx (429.56 kb)