Hello, and welcome to this lesson
on About the Exam.
So in this lesson, we're going to talk about the exam.
And specifically, we're going to talk about
what the DP-203 actually is.
I'm going to give you some expectations
and some opening tips.
And then we're going to take a look at some resources
from Microsoft that you need to know about.
So let's get started.
To start off with, what is the DP-203?
Well, it's a data engineering exam on Microsoft Azure.
The requirements for the DP-203,
they say that you should be a subject matter expert
in integrating, transforming, and consolidating data.
You should understand both structured and unstructured data.
Along with that, you need to have
a, quote, "Strong knowledge of data processing languages",
such as SQL, Python, and Scala.
You need to have knowledge of parallel processing,
and you need to have knowledge
of data architecture patterns.
Now, if you find yourself in a absolute panic
after reading all of that, don't fear.
We are going to go step by step
through every one of these requirements
to make sure that you're prepared for the DP-203.
Now, in this main section,
we'll talk a little bit more about
some of the background courses you may need to take,
but, it is absolutely doable.
And, the good news is you only need 1 exam
for your required certification now.
So, if you are asking if you're good enough,
the answer is a resounding yes,
you can do this.
Don't panic, move through the course step by step,
and we'll help you all along the way.
So now let's go ahead and talk a little bit
about the exam itself.
First, the exam is somewhere
around the neighborhood of 210 minutes.
Somewhere between 40 and 60 questions.
You should expect to see case studies,
multi-answer questions, single-answer questions,
dropdown lists, and more.
It is possible that you could also see labs on the exam.
Labs currently are not a given,
but they should always be expected.
Having said all of that,
don't forget the rules and restrictions section.
You know, at the end of the commercial,
where they have that really small fine print?
The truth is, for this exam,
and for any Microsoft exam that you're going to take,
expect the unexpected.
You could go take the exam today
and take it tomorrow
and see an entirely different exam.
Different types of questions.
Time can be different.
Number of questions can be different.
The format or the number of types of questions
in a format could change as well.
There might be labs.
There might not be.
Microsoft loves to change things up
and have a very robust exam system.
But the truth is, if you're really well prepared,
whether they give you 60 questions or 20 questions
or a case study, or 5 case studies,
it really shouldn't matter.
You should do fine either way.
And so we're going to work to prepare you
to do fine regardless.
So don't focus too much on this
because the truth is, it might change.
So what are some expectations and opening tips?
Well, like I said, this will be challenging,
but you can do it.
Make a schedule for yourself.
So start by looking at the number of sections
in this course,
breaking that down,
figure out how long it's going to take you
to do each section
and then figure out when
you're looking to schedule an exam.
Also, schedule some treats along the way for yourself.
So after you finished the second section,
hey, you're going to take an afternoon
and you're just going to grab some coffee
and read a book or go on a walk
or do whatever it is that you like to do.
But make sure that you build some of that in
to keep the momentum going
and to give yourself something to be excited about
as you move forward in your journey.
Don't forget though,
you need to have a plan for those sections and that exam.
Don't let it just kind of be,
well, I'll get to it when I can,
because you're going to find that you don't get to it.
You'll be much better off if you say,
hey, every Tuesday, I'm going to study for 2 hours, right?
So make that schedule for yourself.
Again, don't panic.
You can absolutely do this. As the time gets closer,
understand that those feelings are normal
and you'll be just fine.
Keep pace if at all possible.
If you let yourself fall off your schedule,
you're going to find it much harder to get back on.
Alright, so with all of that,
let's go ahead and see it in action.
Well, text action I guess.
So, we're going to jump in
and we're going to look at the skills outline,
and we're going to talk about the Microsoft docs
to give you some additional tips to look forward to.
So let me slide over into the internet here.
And let's start by taking a look at the DP-203.
So this is just Microsoft's exam page.
What you need to focus on is down here,
in the Skills Measured section,
make sure that you click on Download Skills Exam
and that you look at this.
Microsoft is going to put changes to the course in red,
and you'll see that markup
and see when it's changing and what's changing.
So make sure that you look at that
a couple of times throughout the course,
just to make sure that you're covering
and learning everything that you need to learn.
Of course, we update the courses,
but if Microsoft makes a change,
you want to make sure that you're getting everything
that you need to, to be prepared.
Along with that, I'm going to show you
just Microsoft documentation.
So as we go through the course,
we're going to cover concepts like Azure Stream Analytics.
In addition to the videos,
in addition to the quizzes and the hands-on labs,
I also would suggest that you're
at least glancing through the Microsoft docs.
So for instance, when we cover Azure Stream Analytics,
pop over to the Microsoft docs,
glance through the Overview section
and glance through the Concepts section.
So if you glance through those 2 pieces,
it's going to help reinforce what you're learning
in this course and see it a different way.
So you can kind of see how Microsoft is wording things.
So I would suggest that as we go through,
that you do some research on both of those things.
Alright, so in review,
let's turn your ideas into reality
and let's talk about the DP-203.
One exam required for your certification.
Hey, don't gloss over the expectations and opening tips.
Make that schedule,
make some rewards for yourself as you go through,
and do your best to stick to that schedule
so that you have an end date in mind.
Finally, don't forget once or twice
to check out that skills outline.
And as we go through the sections,
just be glancing through those Microsoft docs as well.
If you do all of that, you should be good to go.
I'm super excited to take this journey with you.
And with that, hey, let's get started.
Let's jump into the next lesson.
I'll see you there.