Azure Developer — Complete Learning Package

Beginner Labs (1–15)

• Deploy App Service app from GitHub
• Create HTTP-trigger Azure Function
• Blob-trigger Function for image processing
• Timer-trigger Function
• Managed Identity → Key Vault access
• Blob upload/download using SDK
• Service Bus queue producer/consumer
• Cosmos DB CRUD operations
• Redis cache-aside pattern
• Durable Functions chaining
• Durable Functions fan-out/fan-in
• Event Grid + Function subscriber
• APIM with Function API
• Feature flags with App Configuration
• Integration testing with Azurite

Intermediate Labs (16–35)

• Build REST API with OpenAPI
• JWT validation with Entra ID
• Deployment slots (staging → prod)
• Cosmos DB change feed
• Containerized API (Container Apps)
• Saga pattern with Durable Functions
• Outbox pattern with Cosmos DB
• SignalR real-time notifications
• gRPC service on AKS
• GraphQL API with Functions
• Custom APIM policies
• Azure AD B2C auth
• Service Bus sessions (FIFO)
• Idempotent messaging
• CI/CD with GitHub Actions
• Bicep infra templates
• Retry + circuit breaker (Polly)
• Blob → Function → Cosmos pipeline
• User delegation SAS
• Health check endpoint

Advanced Labs (36–50)

• Microservices with Container Apps + Dapr
• CQRS with Event Grid + Cosmos DB
• Serverless API platform (APIM + Functions)
• Multi-tenant SaaS with RLS
• Event sourcing with Cosmos DB
• Custom Function binding
• Distributed locking with Redis
• Real-time dashboard (SignalR)
• Strangler pattern migration
• End-to-end CI/CD pipeline
• Observability with App Insights
• Multi-region API
• Secretless architecture
• API versioning strategy
• Production-grade app build

Major Projects

Core Systems

• E-commerce API (Cosmos + Functions + APIM)
• Real-time chat (SignalR + Cosmos)
• Order processing pipeline (Event Grid + Durable Functions)
• Notification service (Event Grid + SignalR)
• Payment system (Functions + Service Bus + SQL)

Data & Analytics

• Analytics event collector (Event Hubs + Cosmos)
• Search API (AI Search + Functions)
• Customer 360 API

Advanced Systems

• Multi-tenant SaaS platform
• Real-time bidding system
• Workflow engine with Durable Functions
• Serverless CMS
• Full cloud-native application

Gotchas & Common Mistakes

• Functions cold start on Consumption plan
• Cosmos DB partition key is immutable
• Cross-partition queries cost more RUs
• Service Bus messages must be completed
• Event Grid delivers at least once → handle duplicates
• Key Vault throttling → cache secrets
• Durable Functions must be deterministic
• Redis: use connection multiplexing
• Application Insights sampling may miss data
• Always use retry + circuit breaker patterns
• Never store secrets in code
• Use structured logging (JSON)
• Enable HTTPS always
• Use async/await in Functions
• Handle memory limits in Functions

Development Playbook

Workflow

• Develop locally (Azurite / emulator)
• Run unit + integration tests
• CI: build + test
• CD: deploy to staging
• Smoke test → production swap
• Monitor with App Insights

Code Review Checklist

• No credentials in code
• Managed Identity used
• Proper error handling + logging
• Retry with exponential backoff
• Idempotent processing
• Structured logging
• Health endpoint present
• CORS configured
• HTTPS enforced
• API versioned