The exam consists of 10 sections to measure different Azure skills, and I have passed 8 of them, which are:
Explore Azure Functions;
Develop Azure Functions;
Implement Azure Key Vault (full score!);
Implement Azure App Configuration;
Monitor App Performance;
Manage Container Images in Azure Container Registry (full score!);
Work with Azure Cosmos DB;
Consume an Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL change feed using the SDK.
I didn’t pass the section “Implement Azure Container Apps” and scored 0 in “Run Container Images in Azure Container Instances” section. These areas remind me that there is always room for improvement and growth.
The certificate is signed by Microsoft CEO!
The Kaizen Journey
Since 2019, I have not been actively using Azure at my work. I now work with AWS at work, but I still learn Azure on my own. Even though I’m not using Azure at work, I keep learning and growing my cloud computing skills. I share my AWS knowledge with the community, but my heart is still with Azure too. I want to be good at both AWS and Azure!
As a developer working primarily with AWS, taking the Azure certification may seem unconventional, but it’s a wise move. Not only Azure certification allows me to demonstrate my commitment to continuous learning and adaptability, but also having expertise in multiple cloud platforms makes a developer a more attractive candidate in the current job market.
I hope my journey inspires you to pursue your own path of learning and growth. As Riza Marhaban, my senior who is also Senior Associate Director (IT) at NUS told me, certifications are not just about achieving a credential, but about the journey of self-improvement and the positive impact it can have on those around us.
Riza shared with me the Kaizen philosophy. The Kaisan philosophy teaches us to embrace challenges, learn from failures, and strive for excellence. Hence, I apply this philosophy to my own journeys, embracing each step as an opportunity to learn and grow.
Wrap-Up
Renewing my certification has reminded me of the importance of continuous learning. I hope my story inspires you to stay humble, stay hungry, and always strive for excellence.
In the rapidly evolving fields like software development, staying static in terms of technical skills and knowledge can quickly lead to obsolescence. Hence, the ability to learn independently is a crucial skill in a rapidly changing world. Self-learning allows software developers to acquire new skills and deepen their knowledge in specific areas of interest.
Renew my Azure Developer Associate Certificate
In the September, I was on a business trip to Hanoi, Vietnam. I thus decided to take the opportunity of my time staying in hotel after work to prepare for my Microsoft certificate renewal test.
To Hanoi, from Singapore!
Well, it took me some time to hit refresh on the latest updates in Microsoft Azure because in Samsung, I don’t work daily with it. Fortunately, thanks to Microsoft Learn, I am able to quickly pickup the new knowledge after going through the online resources on the Microsoft Learn platform.
As usual, I took down the notes of what I learned from Microsoft Learn. This year, the exam focuses on the following topics.
Microsoft Identity Platform;
Azure Key Vault;
Azure App Configuration and Monitoring;
Azure Container Apps;
CosmosDB.
I did pretty well in all the topics above with the exception of Azure Container Apps, where my responses to questions related to Azure Container Registry were unfortunately incorrect. However, I am pleased to share that despite this challenge, I successfully passed the renewal assessment on my first attempt.
Achieving success in my Azure exam at midnight in Hanoi.
Participating in the AI Skills Challenge
Last month, I also participated in an online Microsoft event. It is the Microsoft Learn AI Skills Challenge where we are allowed to choose to complete one out of the four challenges from Machine Learning Challenge, Cognitive Services Challenge, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) Challenge, and AI Builder Challenge.
The challenge shows us how to build models, and explains how we can use them in Power Apps and Power Automate. Throughout the online course, we can learn how to create topics, custom entities, and variables to capture, extract, and store information in a bot.
Why Taking Microsoft AI Challenge?
Users login the Samsung app using face recognition technology from Microsoft AI (Image Credit: cyberlink.com)
Since last year, I have been working in the AI module in a Samsung app. I am proud to have the opportunity to learn about Microsoft AI and use it in our project to, for example, allow users login to our app using the face recognition feature in Microsoft AI.
Therefore, embracing this challenge provides me with a valuable opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Microsoft AI, with a specific focus on the AI Builder. The AI Builder platform empowers us to create models tailored to our business requirements or to opt for prebuilt models designed to seamlessly address a wide array of common business scenarios.
In August, I finally completed the challenge and received my certificate from Microsoft.
WRAP-UP
By adopting a growth mindset, applying Kaizen principles, and following a structured learning plan, we can embark on our self-learning journey and emerge as a certified professional.
Besides Microsoft Learn, depends on what you’d like to learn, you can enroll in other online courses on platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and edX which offer comprehensive courses with video lectures, quizzes, and labs.
Once you have chosen your certification, create a structured learning plan. You can then proceed to outline the topics covered in the exam objectives and allocate specific time slots for each.
Anyway, remember, continuous learning is the path to excellence, and getting certification is only one of the steps in that direction. Just as software development involves iterations, so does our learning journey. We shall continuously refine our technical skills and knowledge.
The high concentration of talented individuals in Samsung SDS is remarkable. I have worked alongside amazing colleagues who are not only friendly but also intelligent and dedicated to their work.
Before attempting the CKAD exam, I received advice on how demanding and challenging the assessment could be. Self-learning can also be daunting, particularly in a stressful work environment. However, I seized the opportunity to embark on my journey towards getting certified and committed myself to the process of kaizen, continuous improvement. It was a journey that required a lot of effort and dedication, but it was worth it.
I took the CKAD certification exam while I was working in Seoul in March 2023. The lovely weather has a soothing impact on my stress levels.
August 2022: Learning Docker Fundamentals
To embark on a successful Kubernetes learning journey, I acknowledge the significance of first mastering the fundamentals of Docker.
Docker is a tool that helps developers build, package, and run applications in a consistent way across different environments. Docker allows us to package our app and its dependencies into a Docker container, and then run it on any computer that has Docker installed.
Docker serves as the foundation for many container-based technologies, including Kubernetes. Hence, understanding Docker fundamentals provides a solid groundwork for comprehending Kubernetes.
I borrowed the free Pluralsight account from my friend, Marvin Heng.
The learning path helps me gain essential knowledge and skills that are directly applicable to Kubernetes. For example, it shows me how the best practices of optimising Docker images by carefully placing the Docker instructions and making use of its caching mechanism.
In the learning path, we learnt about Docker Swarm. Docker Swarm is a tool that helps us manage and orchestrate multiple Docker containers across multiple machines or servers, making it easier to deploy and scale our apps.
A simple architecture diagram of a system using Kubernetes. (Source: Pluralsight)
After getting the basic understanding of Docker Swarm, we move on to learning Kubernetes. Kubernetes is similar to Docker Swarm because they are both tools for managing and orchestrating containerised apps. However, Kubernetes has a larger and more mature ecosystem, with more third-party tools and plugins available for tasks like monitoring, logging, and service discovery.
The Linux Foundation provides a neutral and collaborative environment for open-source projects like Kubernetes to thrive, and the CNCF is able to leverage this environment to build a strong community of contributors and users around Kubernetes.
In addition, the Linux Foundation offers a variety of certification exams that allow individuals to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in various areas of open-source technology. CKAD is one of them.
The CKAD exam costs USD 395.00.
The Linux Foundation also offers Kubernetes-related training courses.
The CKAD course is self-paced and can be completed online, making it accessible to learners around the world. It is designed for developers who have some experience with Kubernetes and want to deepen their knowledge and skills in preparation for the CKAD certification exam.
The CKAD course includes a combination of lectures, hands-on exercises, and quizzes to reinforce the concepts covered. It covers a wide range of topics related to Kubernetes, including:
Kubernetes architecture;
Build and design;
Deployment configuration;
App exposing;
App troubleshooting;
Security in Kubernetes;
Helm.
Kubectl, the command-line client used to interact with Kubernetes clusters. (Image Credit: The Linux Foundation Training)
January 2023: Going through CKAD Exercises and Killer Shell
Following approximately one month of dedicated effort, I successfully completed the online course and proudly received my course completion certificate on 7th of January 2023. So, throughout the remainder of January, I directed my attention towards exam preparation by diligently working through the various online exercises.
The exercise comprises numerous questions, therefore, my suggestion would be to devote one week to thoroughly delve into them, by allocating an hour each day to tackle a subset of the questions.
During my 10-day Chinese New Year holiday, I dedicated my time towards preparing for the exam. (Image Credit: Global Times)
Furthermore, upon purchasing the CKAD exam, we are entitled to receive two complementary simulator sessions for the exam on Killer Shell (killer.sh), both containing the same set of questions. Therefore, it is advisable to strategise and plan our approach towards making optimal utilisation of them.
After going through all the questions in the CKAD exercise mentioned above, I proceeded to undertake the initial killer.sh exam. The simulator features an interface that closely resembles the new remote desktop Exam UI, thereby providing me with invaluable insights on how the actual exam will be conducted.
The killer.sh session is allocated a total of 2 hours for the exam, encompassing a set of 22 questions. Similar to the actual exam, the session is to test our hands-on experience and practical knowledge of Kubernetes. Thus, we are expected to demonstrate our proficiency by completing a series of tasks in a given Kubernetes environment.
The simulator questions are comparatively more challenging than the actual exam. In my initial session, I was able to score only 50% out of 100%. Upon analysing and rectifying my errors, I resolved to invest an additional month’s time to study and prepare more comprehensively.
Scenario-based questions like this are expected in the CKAD exam.
February 2023: Working on Cloud Migration Project
Upon my return from the Chinese New Year holiday, to my dismay, I discovered that I had been assigned to a cloud migration project at work.
The project presented me with an exceptional chance to deploy an ASP .NET solution on Kubernetes on Google Cloud Platform, allowing me to put into practice what I have learned and thereby fortify my knowledge of Kubernetes-related topics.
Furthermore, I am lucky to have had the opportunity to engage in a fruitful discussion with my fellow colleagues, through which I was able to learn more from them about Kubernetes by presenting my work.
March 2023: The Exam
In the early of March, I was assigned to visit Samsung SDS in Seoul until the end of the month. Therefore, I decided to seize the opportunity to complete my second kill.sh simulation session. This time, I managed to score more than the passing score, which is 66%.
After that, I dedicated an extra week to reviewing the questions in the CKAD exercises on GitHub before proceeding to take the actual CKAD exam.
The actual CKAD exam consists of 16 questions that need to be completed within 2 hours. Even though the exam is online and open book, we are not allowed to refer any resources other than the Kubernetes documentation and the Helm documentaion during the exam.
In addition, the exam has been updated to use the PSI Bridge where we get access to a remote desktop instead of just a remote terminal. There is an an article about it. This should not be unfamiliar to you if you have gone through the killer.sh exams.
The new exam UI now provides us access to a full remote XFCE desktop, enabling us to run the terminal application and Firefox to open the approved online documentations, unlike the previous exam UI. Thus, having multiple monitors and bookmarking the documentation pages on our personal Internet browser before the exam are no longer helpful.
Even though I am 30-minute early to the exam, I faced a technical issue with Chrome on my laptop that caused me to be 5 minutes late for the online exam. Fortunately, my exam time was not reduced due to the delay.
The issue was related to the need to end the “remoting_host.exe” application used by Chrome Remote Desktop in order to use a specific browser for the exam. Despite trying to locate it in task manager, I was unable to do so. After searching on Google, I found a solution for Windows users. We need to execute the command “net stop chromoting” to the “remoting_host.exe”.
During my stay in Seoul, my room at Shilla Stay Seocho served as my exam location.
CKAD certification exam is an online proctored exam. This means that it can be taken remotely but monitored by a proctor via webcam and microphone to ensure the integrity of the exam. Hence, to ensure a smooth online proctored exam experience, it is crucial to verify that our webcam is capable of capturing the text on our ID, such as our passport, and that we are using a stable, high-speed Internet connection.
During the exam, the first thing I did is to create a few aliases as listed below.
alias k="kubectl "
alias kn="kubectl config set-context --current --namespace"
export dry="--dry-run=client -o yaml"
export now="--force --grace-period 0"
These aliases helped me to complete the commands quickier. In addition, if it’s possible, I also always use an imperative command to create a YAML file using kubectl.
By working on the solution based on the generated YAML file, I am able to save a significant amount of time as opposed to writing the entire YAML file from scratch.
I completed only 15 questions with 1 not answered. I chose to forgo a 9-mark question that I was not confident in answering correctly, in order to have more time to focus on other questions. In the end, I still managed to score 78% out of 100%.
The passing score for CKAD is 66% out of 100%.
Moving Forward: Beyond the Certification
In conclusion, obtaining certification in one’s chosen field can be a valuable asset for personal and professional development. In my experience, it has helped me feel more confident in my abilities and given me a sense of purpose in my career.
However, it is essential to remember that it is crucial to continue learning and growing, both through practical experience and ongoing education, in order to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the field. The combination of certification, practical experience, and ongoing learning can help us to achieve our career goals and excel in our role as a software engineer.
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