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30DaysOfAZD

Course Recap & Next Steps

Congratulations! You’ve completed the 30 Days of AZD Templates journey. Let’s recap what you’ve learned and explore how to continue growing.

Your Learning Journey

Section titled “Your Learning Journey”

Week 1: Fundamentals 📚

Section titled “Week 1: Fundamentals 📚”

You built a solid foundation by learning:

  • Microsoft Foundry: The unified platform for AI development
  • Real-World Scenario: Enterprise retail AI assistant use case
  • Development Lifecycle: From apartment analogy to understanding cloud layers
  • AI Architecture: Identifying components and understanding data flow
  • Provisioning Evolution: From manual → ARM/Bicep → AZD templates

Key Takeaway: AZD templates provide the most complete, efficient way to deploy AI applications.

Week 2: AZD Deep Dive 🔧

Section titled “Week 2: AZD Deep Dive 🔧”

You mastered Azure Developer CLI:

  • AZD Workflow: Complete command lifecycle from init to monitor
  • Installation & Commands: Cross-platform setup and full command reference
  • Template Discovery: Finding and evaluating templates
  • Template Creation: Building custom templates
  • Deployment Strategies: Multi-environment and production deployments
  • Deconstruction: Reading and understanding template structure
  • Extensions: Customizing with hooks and scripts

Key Takeaway: AZD empowers rapid, consistent deployments with azd up.

Week 3: Deconstruction 🔍

Section titled “Week 3: Deconstruction 🔍”

You analyzed a real AI Agents template:

  • Template Introduction: Understanding the AI Agents pattern
  • Deployment: Hands-on resource provisioning and exploration
  • Repository Analysis: Understanding code organization
  • Search Integration: AI Search and vector databases
  • Tracing: Monitoring and observability
  • Evaluations: Testing agent quality and safety
  • Extensions: Adding custom tools and capabilities

Key Takeaway: Real-world templates combine multiple services into cohesive solutions.

Week 4: Experimentation 🧪

Section titled “Week 4: Experimentation 🧪”

You built practical skills through exercises:

  • Template Customization: Modifying templates for your needs
  • Solution Deployment: End-to-end deployment workflow
  • Model Creation: Programmatic AI model management
  • Agent Development: Building custom AI agents
  • Rapid Prototyping: Idea to working prototype
  • Production Readiness: Evaluations and red-teaming
  • Adoption: Monitoring, tracing, and fine-tuning

Key Takeaway: AZD templates accelerate you from idea to production.

Skills You’ve Gained

Section titled “Skills You’ve Gained”

Technical Skills

Section titled “Technical Skills”

✅ Azure Developer CLI: Proficiency with azd commands and workflow ✅ Infrastructure as Code: Understanding Bicep and template structure ✅ AI Services: Working with Azure OpenAI, AI Search, and Foundry ✅ Architecture: Designing and understanding AI application patterns ✅ DevOps: CI/CD integration and deployment automation ✅ Monitoring: Application insights and observability

Professional Skills

Section titled “Professional Skills”

✅ Problem Solving: Breaking down complex systems ✅ Best Practices: Applying security, scalability, and cost optimization ✅ Documentation: Understanding and creating clear documentation ✅ Collaboration: Working with templates and version control ✅ Continuous Learning: Navigating documentation and resources

What’s Next?

Section titled “What’s Next?”

Immediate Actions

Section titled “Immediate Actions”

1. Build Something Real

Section titled “1. Build Something Real”

Apply your learning to a real project:

  • Identify a problem in your organization
  • Select an appropriate AZD template
  • Customize for your needs
  • Deploy and iterate

2. Contribute to Community

Section titled “2. Contribute to Community”

Share your knowledge:

  • Create a custom AZD template for your domain
  • Submit improvements to existing templates
  • Write blog posts about your experience
  • Answer questions in community forums

3. Deepen Expertise

Section titled “3. Deepen Expertise”

Focus on specific areas:

AI/ML Focus:

  • Advanced prompt engineering
  • Fine-tuning models
  • Responsible AI practices
  • RAG optimization

Infrastructure Focus:

  • Advanced Bicep patterns
  • Multi-region deployments
  • Security hardening
  • Cost optimization

DevOps Focus:

  • CI/CD best practices
  • Testing strategies
  • Deployment patterns
  • Monitoring and alerting

Learning Resources

Section titled “Learning Resources”

Microsoft Learn Paths

Section titled “Microsoft Learn Paths”

Certifications

Section titled “Certifications”
  • AI-102: Azure AI Engineer Associate
  • AZ-204: Azure Developer Associate
  • AZ-400: DevOps Engineer Expert

Community

Section titled “Community”

Advanced Topics

Section titled “Advanced Topics”

Continue learning with these advanced areas:

Multi-Region Deployments

Section titled “Multi-Region Deployments”
  • Global application distribution
  • Failover and disaster recovery
  • Cross-region data replication
  • Traffic management

Enterprise Integration

Section titled “Enterprise Integration”
  • Azure Landing Zones
  • Hub-and-spoke networking
  • Policy and governance
  • Compliance frameworks

Advanced AI Patterns

Section titled “Advanced AI Patterns”
  • Multi-agent systems
  • Semantic kernel integration
  • Custom model deployments
  • AI orchestration

Performance Optimization

Section titled “Performance Optimization”
  • Caching strategies
  • Query optimization
  • Resource right-sizing
  • Cost management

Stay Connected

Section titled “Stay Connected”

Follow Updates

Section titled “Follow Updates”

Share Your Success

Section titled “Share Your Success”

We’d love to hear about your journey!

  • Tweet with #AZDTemplates and #30DaysOf
  • Share your projects on GitHub
  • Write about your experience
  • Help others in the community

Reflection Exercise

Section titled “Reflection Exercise”

Take a moment to reflect on your journey:

What Did You Learn?

Section titled “What Did You Learn?”
  • What concept was most valuable?
  • Which week was most challenging?
  • What surprised you most?
  • How will you apply this knowledge?

Set Your Goals

Section titled “Set Your Goals”
  • 1 Month: What will you build?
  • 3 Months: What expertise will you develop?
  • 6 Months: Where will you contribute?

Final Thoughts

Section titled “Final Thoughts”

You’ve completed an intensive journey through Azure AI development with AZD templates. You’ve learned:

  • Fundamentals that provide context and understanding
  • Tools that enable rapid, consistent deployments
  • Patterns that represent best practices
  • Skills that make you productive immediately

Remember: The best way to solidify learning is to build something real.

Take what you’ve learned and create something amazing. The Azure AI ecosystem is vast and full of opportunities.

Thank You

Section titled “Thank You”

Thank you for dedicating your time to this learning journey. You’re now equipped to:

  • Build production-ready AI applications
  • Leverage AZD templates effectively
  • Contribute to the Azure developer community
  • Continue growing as an Azure AI developer

Now go build something incredible! 🚀

Quick Reference

Section titled “Quick Reference”

Essential Commands

Section titled “Essential Commands”
Terminal window
# Start new project
azd init --template <template-name>


# Deploy everything
azd up


# Deploy code only
azd deploy


# Monitor application
azd monitor --overview


# Clean up
azd down

Key Resources

Section titled “Key Resources”

Support

Section titled “Support”
  • GitHub Issues: Report bugs and feature requests
  • Stack Overflow: Tag questions with azure-developer-cli
  • Microsoft Q&A: Get help from Microsoft and community

Congratulations on completing 30 Days of AZD Templates! 🎉

Keep building, keep learning, keep sharing.