Preparation guide: (70-583) designing and developing windows azure applications

About

This is my preparation guide to the Windows Azure exam 70-583. It was right for me, but it might be too little (or too much) for you, dear reader. With my current experience I felt that this was enough for me (I’ve been experimenting with the Windows Azure platform since the CTP, back in 2008); For more information about the exam, take a loot at Microsoft’s overview.

ELearning

I recommend pluralsight’s on-demand course called "Windows Azure Fundamentals".
As a MSDN subscriber you can get free access to this course and many others for 1 month.

Books

I have read 2 books about Windows Azure so far:

• Azure in Action - Chris Hay, Brian Prince
  
• Programming Windows Azure – Sriram Krishnan

Both are worth reading, but if you have to choose, Azure in Action is the one: It’s a concise introduction to the platform from a developer perspective.

Articles

In addition to the books, the following articles are a must:

• Windows Azure Queue - Microsoft Corporation
• Windows Azure Table - Microsoft Corporation
• An Introduction to Microsoft .NET Services for Developers
• An Introduction to Windows Azure AppFabric for Developers
• A Developer’s Guide Access Control in the Windows Azure platform AppFabric

For even more reading, take a look at J.D Meier's Guidance Map, it’s a giant index of Windows Azure content collections for developers. (Code Samples, How to, Videos, Training etc.…).

Learning by doing

I cannot emphasis enough the importance of experiencing the platform by yourself. You’re a MSDN subscriber so create a Windows Azure Platform MSDN Premium Account (and yes you'll need to assign a valid credit card, but you won't be charged unless you overrun your quota). Now go ahead, download Windows Azure Platform Training Kit and start programming.

Good luck!