Review: Azure Data Engineer Associate Certification Guide
I read/studied this book, written by as part of my certification journey towards "Azure Data Engineer". In this post, I want to discuss the book and how it has helped me in studying for my certification exam.
A lot of the materials out there cover the different technologies, that are covered in the exam, and "glue" them together. Even though this is a smart thing to do if you have al the content available, the reader/student still misses a (to me) "crucial" part, which is "putting it all together".
This book is different; the author really took the time to look at the certification skills outline on the DP-203 certification overview page and he uses this as a basis to structure the book. This means that this book has been structured and written specifically for this purpose and this is something that I can only appreciate as a reader/student! The result is a book that takes the reader on a journey which builds on itself and is (as a consequence) clear to understand!
So, instead of discussing each technology individually, the author chose to discuss the different concepts as they appear in the skills outline. ("Data Storage", "Design and Develop Data Processing", etc ) When appropriate, the relevant technologies/services were then discussed in that context and when needed compared to each other. The result is a "story" that builds on itself and that helps the reader to build "a map" (so to speak) of what "being a data engineer" encompasses, whilst at the same time focussing on the (relevant) technology.
This book is a great resource, but you should not use it as the "only" resource when preparing for the exam (especially if you are new to the domain). I really see it as the "starting point" of your journey towards certification on which you can build in the cases/situations where you deem it necessary. To make it clear, the book is filled with practical examples that will (most likely) help you pass the exam, but being certified (to me) also means being able to do your work in a productive manner (and with impact). And that is something that you can only achieve if you combine the theoretical and the practical. (and that means hands-on experience) If however, you already master the individual technologies/services (because you perhaps work with them), then this book just might be the thing that you need!
So, I definitely recommend that you use this book on your certification journey towards the DP-203 certification exam and on top of that (especially if you are new to the domain or to specific services/technologies), I encourage you to go that step further (into the practical details) as it will set you up for greatness as an Azure Data Engineer 😉
Where to get it: