Exam DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure

Note: Microsoft Azure Data Engineer [DP-203] will expire on March 31, 2025, and is being replaced by Microsoft Fabric Data Engineer [DP-700].

This post covers everything you must know before appearing for the Azure Data Engineer Certification [DP-203] exam.

DP 203 Certification is a certification that certifies one’s expertise in designing and implementing big data analytics solutions using Azure Data Services.

The topics covered in this blog are:

1. Who is the Azure Data Engineer?
2. Why You Should Learn Data Engineer?
3. DP 203 Certification Benefits
4. Skills Measured in Exam DP-203
5. Prerequisites for the DP-203
6. Exam Details
7. Learning Path For DP-203
8. DP-203 Hands-On Guides
9. Who This Certification Is For?
10. Exam Retake Policy
11. Frequently Asked Questions

Who Is Azure Data Engineer?

Azure Data Engineers are responsible for integrating, transforming, and consolidating data from distinct structured and unstructured data systems into structures that are good enough for building analytics solutions.

Azure Data Engineers help stakeholders apprehend the information through exploration, and they construct and keep at ease and compliant facts processing pipelines through the use of specific tools and strategies. these professionals use various Azure data offerings and languages to store and produce cleansed and better datasets for evaluation.

Here are some of the tasks of an Azure data engineer:

• Design and develop data processing and data storage solutions for the enterprise.
• Deploy and set up cloud-based data services such as databases, blob services, and analytics.
• Secure the stored data and the platform. Make sure only the necessary users can access the data.
• Monitor to establish that the systems run properly and are cost-effective.

Why You Should Learn Data Engineer?

There is a lot of raw data generated per day in most IT Industries, so they need a dedicated team that can integrate, transform, and consolidate data from various structured and unstructured data systems into structures that are suitable for building analytics solutions. Hence there is a huge gap in the demand and supply of Data Engineers.

The average salary for a Data Engineer is $116,591 per year as of some resources. This is above the national average of $44,564. Hence, a Data Engineer makes 261% more than the national average salary!

DP 203 Certification Benefits

• Increase in demand for Data Engineers. The CV with Microsoft Certification is globally recognized.
• Upon earning a certification, 26 percent report job promotions and 35 percent of technical professionals say getting certified led to salary or wage increases.
• In terms of job prospects and earnings, a certification leads to a rampant gain in both.
• Updating your profile with this certificate will advance your job profile and increase your chances of getting chosen.

Skills Measured In Exam DP-203

The important domains covered in the Microsoft Azure DP 203 Exam are:

1) Design and implement data storage (15–20%)

• Implement a partitioning strategy
• Design and implement the data exploration layer

2) Develop data processing (40–45%)

• Ingest and transform data
• Develop a batch-processing solution
• Develop a stream-processing solution
• Manage batches and pipelines

3) Secure, monitor, and optimize data storage and data processing (30–35%)

• Implement data security
• Monitor data storage and data processing
• Optimize and troubleshoot data storage and data processing

Note: Maximum questions cover functions that are General Availability (GA). The exam may also incorporate questions on Preview features if those functions are typically used.

Also, Read Our blog post on Delta Lake.

Prerequisites For The DP-203

Candidates for this exam must have a good knowledge of data processing languages such as:

• SQL
• Python
• Scala

Exam Details

• Certification Name: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure (beta)
• Exam Cost: $165 USD*
• Languages: English
• Retirement date: none

Learning Path For DP 203

DP-203 Hands-On Guides

For DP 203 we have a list of 27 Step-by-Step Activity Guides (Hands-On Labs) for you to practice and have a clear knowledge of the concepts both theoretically and practically. The list of activity guides is as follows:

1. Working with Apache Spark in Azure Synapse Analytics
2. Work with a Delta Lake architecture
3. Querying a Data Lake Store using serverless SQL pools in Azure Synapse Analytics
4. Securing access to data by using a serverless SQL pool in Azure Synapse Analytics
5. DataFrame transformation activities
6. Perform Data Exploration in Synapse Studio
7. Ingest data with Spark notebooks in Azure Synapse Analytics
8. Transform data with DataFrames in Spark pools in Azure Synapse Analytics
9. Use data loading best practices in Azure Synapse Analytics
10. Petabyte-scale ingestion with Azure Data Factory
11. Data integration with Azure Data Factory or Azure Synapse Pipelines
12. Code-free transformation at scale with Azure Data Factory or Azure Synapse Pipelines
13. Integrate data from Notebooks with Azure Data Factory or Azure Synapse Pipelines
14. Securing Azure Synapse Analytics supporting infrastructure
15. Securing the Azure Synapse Analytics workspace and managed services
16. Securing Azure Synapse Analytics workspace data
17. Configure Azure Synapse Link with Azure Cosmos DB
18. Query Azure Cosmos DB with Apache Spark for Synapse Analytics
19. Query Azure Cosmos DB with serverless SQL pool for Azure Synapse Analytics
20. Use Stream Analytics to process real-time data from Event Hubs
21. Use Stream Analytics windowing functions to build aggregates and output to Synapse Analytics
22. Scale the Azure Stream Analytics job to increase throughput through partitioning
23. Repartition of the stream input to optimize the parallelization
24. Understand the key features and uses of Structured Streaming
25. Stream data from a file and write it out to a distributed file system and connect to Event Hubs to read and write streams
26. Use sliding windows to aggregate over chunks of data rather than all data
27. Apply watermarking to remove stale data

Who This Certification Is For?

After all this, you’ll be waiting to know if are you the one for this DP203 certification, right? Well, here is your answer to that,

• Candidates who are interested in Data Engineering.
• Data architects, Database Administrators, and Business Intelligence professionals.
• IT professionals who have a thorough knowledge of data processing languages, such as SQL, Python, or Scala.
• People who are good at parallel processing and data architecture patterns.
• Data Engineers who transform, and consolidate data from various unstructured and structured data systems into structures.

Exam Retake Policy

• If a candidate does not get a passing score on an exam on the first attempt, the candidate must wait at least a 24-hour period before retaking the exam.
• If the candidate does not achieve a passing score on the second attempt, he/she should re-access their training and must wait at least 14-day days.
• At last, a candidate has a maximum of 5 retakes allowed in a year.

Day 1 to 8 Live Q/A Session on Microsoft Azure Data Engineer [DP-203]

• Azure Data Engineer [DP-203] Q/A | Day 1 Live Session
• Azure Data Engineer [DP-203] Q/A | Day 2 Live Session
• Azure Data Engineer [DP-203] Q/A | Day 3 Live Session
• Azure Data Engineer [DP-203] Q/A | Day 4 Live Session
• Azure Data Engineer [DP-203] Q/A | Day 5 Live Session
• Azure Data Engineer [DP-203] Q/A | Day 6 Live Session
• Azure Data Engineer [DP-203] Q/A | Day 7 Live Session
• Azure Data Engineer [DP-203] Q/A | Day 8 Live Session

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1.) What is the format of the DP-203 exam?

Answer: The DP-203 exam is a multiple-choice test that is delivered online.

Q2.) I’ve already earned an Azure Data Engineer Associate Badge, and it’s expiring soon. What’s the best way to keep my batch up to date?

Answer: You’ll be able to renew your contemporary certifications via passing a free renewal evaluation on Microsoft study. The renewal assessment can be finished online on your very own time, each time within six months before your certification expires.

Q3.) How I can prepare for Azure Data Engineer?

Answer: Azure Data Engineers are responsible for integrating, transforming, and consolidating data from distinct structured and unstructured data systems into structures that are good enough for building analytics solutions. To prepare for Azure Data Engineer you need to understand the concepts and practical applications of Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure Data Factory, Azure Databricks, Cosmos DB, etc.

You should have strong knowledge of SQL, Python, and Data types in order to get a clear understanding of the implementation of data engineering tasks.

Register for our FREE CLASS for Azure Data Engineer where the experts will walk you through the learning path, hands-on exercises, and 500+ certification questions in order to clear the certification.

Related/References

• Microsoft Certified Azure Data Engineer Associate | DP 203 | Step By Step Activity Guides (Hands-On Labs)
• Exam DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure
• Azure Data Lake For Beginners: All you Need To Know
• Batch Processing Vs Stream Processing: All you Need To Know
• Introduction to Big Data and Big Data Architectures
• Designing And Automate An Enterprise BI solution In Azure
• Azure Data Science And Data Engineering Certifications: DP-900 vs DP-100 vs DP-200/DP-201

Next Task For You

In our Azure Data Engineer training program, we will cover 28 Hands-On Labs. If you want to begin your journey towards becoming a Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate by checking out our FREE CLASS.