Building My Cloud Resume Challenge! From AZ-900 to Serverless Architecture
Entering my third year as an IT student, my career goal became crystal clear: I want to be a Cloud Engineer.
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Earning the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) certification was
Earning the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) certification was a massive first step, but passing a multiple-choice exam doesn't deploy infrastructure. I needed hands-on experience to prove I could bridge the gap between cloud theory and production reality. That is why I took on the Azure Cloud Resume Challenge (By Forrest Brazeal).
Instead of deploying a basic static site, I
Instead of deploying a basic static site, I set out to architect a secure, fully automated serverless backend from scratch. Let's look under the hood at the architecture, the custom design, and the critical lessons I learned! Embracing an Agentic Workflow
While the core cloud architecture, security boundaries, and
While the core cloud architecture, security boundaries, and system design were my own, I utilized AI coding tools as a pair-programmer throughout this project. Acting as the technical lead, I directed the AI to help scaffold templates, generate testing boilerplate, and accelerate styling. This modern "agentic" workflow allowed me to focus my energy on high-level engineering—like orchestrating automation and debugging remote cloud conflicts—rather than getting bogged down in syntax. Here is exactly how I built it, step-by-step:
(Step 1) Certification The foundation of the project
(Step 1) Certification The foundation of the project. I studied for and passed the Microsoft AZ-900 exam, validating my core understanding of Azure cloud services.
(Step 2 & 3) HTML & CSS I
(Step 2 & 3) HTML & CSS I wanted to avoid the generic "AI-generated" look that floods the internet. I designed a custom aesthetic utilizing a deep navy Azure color palette with sharp, asymmetric edges. I also designed a pixelated "jdm" SVG favicon and added custom Open Graph tags so the site generates a clean preview card on LinkedIn.
(Step 4, 5, & 6) Static Website, HTTPS
(Step 4, 5, & 6) Static Website, HTTPS, & DNS I hosted the frontend in an Azure Blob Storage $web container. To ensure it was secure and easy to find, I mapped my custom domain using Cloudflare and enforced HTTPS encryption.
(Step 7) JavaScript I wrote a lightweight client
(Step 7) JavaScript I wrote a lightweight client script that automatically reaches out to my backend database every time the page loads to display a live visitor count.
(Step 8, 9, & 10) Database, API, &
(Step 8, 9, & 10) Database, API, & Python This is where it gets serverless. I set up an Azure Cosmos DB (Table API) to store the visitor count. To retrieve and update that number, I built a serverless API using the Azure Functions Python v2 programming model.
(Step 11) Tests Before deploying my Python code
(Step 11) Tests Before deploying my Python code to the cloud, I needed to know it wouldn't break. I used pytest to write automated unit tests, isolating my code and proving it worked perfectly without needing to connect to the live database.
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Building My Cloud Resume Challenge! From AZ-900 to Serverless Architecture
Entering my third year as an IT student, my career goal became crystal clear: I want to be a Cloud Engineer.
@spots #dev
Source: Dev.to