12 Best Azure Books of 2024 [Learn Azure ASAP]

Today we’re looking at the best Azure books of this year.

In this review, you’ll discover their:

• features
• core concepts
• layout
• comparisons

And more.

We’ve arranged these Azure books by skill level starting with beginner and going all the way to advanced.

🧠 Did you know? According to mycloudIT, the Microsoft Cloud’s fibers stretch 3 times to the moon and back. 🌙

What is Azure?

Azure is Microsoft’s line of cloud services. Introduced in 2008, it was developed as a means of designing and deploying .NET applications.

Azure is now an umbrella for hundreds of cloud services that can be purchased individually or as interconnected components.

Azure includes:

🚀 storage solutions

🚀 AI and machine learning services

🚀 blockchain services

🚀 databases

🚀 IoT infrastructure

And much, much more.

What companies use Azure?

According to Contino, some major companies that use Azure services include:

✅ Verizon

✅ MSI

✅ Amtrak

✅ CenturyLink

✅ GEICO

And many more.

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TLDR: Best Azure Books for This Year

🔥 Best Overall 🔥
Learn Azure in a Month of Lunches

💥 Best for Newbies 💥
Microsoft Azure For Dummies

💸 Best Value 💸
Learn Microsoft Azure for Beginners

Best Azure Books for Beginners

Here we’ll look at beginner books for Azure users.

1. Learn Azure in a Month of Lunches, 2nd Edition

↘️ Ideal for: Azure newbies
↘️ Topics covered: securing applications, automating your environment

This book is ideal for developers familiar with deploying client/server applications.

The idea behind the Month of Lunches series is that you can learn a new skill in the time it takes to eat your lunch every day for a month.

➡️ In our opinion, Learn Azure in a Month of Lunches is one of the best Azure books overall.

With 21 bite-sized lessons and hands-on labs, you’ll build up your skills in:

✅ securing applications and data

✅ automating your environment

✅ machine learning

✅ containerization

And more.

By the time you’re finished with Learn Azure in a Month of Lunches, you should be incredibly productive with Azure without needing to master every feature.

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2. Microsoft Azure For Dummies

↘️ Ideal for: Azure newbies
↘️ Topics covered: migrating services, virtual machines, data privacy

Microsoft Azure for Dummies is similar to Learn Azure in a Month of Lunches.

Both are beginner-friendly, but Microsoft Azure for Dummies sticks to the absolute basics.

➡️ Microsoft Azure For Dummies is possibly one of the best Azure books for beginners.

It was written by Timothy Warner, a Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect.

Instead of a thorough introduction to Azure, you’ll get shortcuts to familiarize yourself with Azure’s most popular offerings.

You’ll explore how to:

✅ migrate your services and applications to Azure

✅ manage virtual machines

✅ deploy web applications that scale

✅ maintain data privacy

And beyond.

By the end of Microsoft Azure for Dummies, you should have a basic understanding of Azure.

Put your new-found skills to use with the interactive course Building Event Driven and Microservices Architecture in Azure on Educative.io.

What this Azure developer had to say about Microsoft Azure for Dummies:

If you’re looking for a book that provides a good overview of Azure, check this book out.

– Azure Developer

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3. Learn Microsoft Azure for Beginners

↘️ Ideal for: Azure newbies, solution architects, IT developers, app admins
↘️ Topics covered: components, compute model, tables

Learn Microsoft Azure for Beginners is similar to both Learn Azure in a Month of Lunches and Microsoft Azure For Dummies.

But it behaves more as a course.

➡️ We believe Learn Microsoft Azure for Beginners is one of the best Azure books for developers on a budget.

You’ll start with an overview of cloud computing.

Then you’ll dive into Azure:

✅ components

✅ compute module

✅ blobs

✅ queues

✅ tables

And much, much more.

You’ll also explore Azure as a Platform as a Service (PaaS) and an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

By the end of Learn Microsoft Azure for Beginners, you should be familiar with a wide array of Azure features.

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4. Learn Microsoft Azure

↘️ Ideal for: Azure newbies, cloud engineers, administrators
↘️ Topics covered: Azure services, design storage and networks

Like Learn Microsoft Azure for Beginners, Learn Microsoft Azure is… you guessed it, for Azure beginners.

But in addition to learning about different Azure services, you’ll learn about cloud design patterns.

➡️ We believe Learn Microsoft Azure is one of the best Azure books for building, managing and scaling cloud applications.

After learning the fundamentals of cloud computing, you’ll dive into infrastructure configuration.

Then you’ll examine virtual memory systems and deployment models.

Next, you’ll explore:

✅ design storage

✅ Azure SQL databases

✅ identity management solutions

✅ automating your Azure services

And that’s just for starters.

By the end of Learn Microsoft Azure, you should be able to secure and troubleshoot your Azure cloud environment.

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5. Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification and Beyond

↘️ Ideal for: Azure newbies who want to get Azure certification
↘️ Topics covered: Azure fundamentals, AZ-900 exam

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification and Beyond is unlike most other books on our list. That’s because it will help you prepare for the AZ-900 exam.

➡️ We believe Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification and Beyond is one of the best Azure books for preparing to get Azure certified.

First you’ll explore the fundamentals of Azure such as:

✅ cloud computing with Azure

✅ architectural components of Azure

✅ core services and management tools

✅ identity, governance and compliance features

And more.

Next, you’ll look at real-world scenarios and hands-on exercises to support concepts.

Finally, you’ll work on practice questions to prepare for the AZ-900 exam.

By the end of this book, you should be ready to take and pass the AZ-900 certification exam.

What this Azure developer is saying about Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification and Beyond:

A very well-researched, well-written, well-laid-out, and authoritative book on Azure Fundamentals…

– Avid Reader

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6. Microsoft Azure: Build, Manage, and Scale Cloud Applications Using the Azure Infrastructure

↘️ Ideal for: Azure newbies
↘️ Topics covered: building, managing and scaling cloud applications

Microsoft Azure is similar to Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification and Beyond because both can help you prepare for Azure certifications.

But Microsoft Azure covers a wider range of potential certifications you can test for.

➡️ Microsoft Azure is perhaps one of the best Azure books for building, testing and managing applications.

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn about:

✅ IaaS, PaaS and SaaS

✅ public, private and hybrid clouds

✅ security issues

✅ mobile and storage services

And much, much more.

You’ll also discover how to create virtual machines for both Linux and Windows.

By the end of this book, you should be able to navigate many Azure services.

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Best Azure Books for Intermediate/Experienced Azure Users

Now we’ll take a look at some books for developers with prior Azure experience.

7. Pentesting Azure Applications

↘️ Ideal for: experienced Azure users
↘️ Topics covered: penetration testing Azure applications

Pentesting Azure Applications published by the ever-awesome No Starch Press is the only book on our list that explores penetration testing Azure applications.

➡️ We think Pentesting Azure Applications is one of the best Azure books for testing and securing deployments.

First you’ll learn how to discover security issues related to multi-factor authentication.

Second, you’ll use PowerShell commands to find:

✅ IP addresses

✅ administrative users

✅ firewall rules

Third, you’ll learn how to find security configuration errors and weaknesses in virtual machine settings.

Finally, you’ll learn other ways to perform security tests to reduce your risk when using Azure.

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8. Azure for Architects

↘️ Ideal for: experienced Azure users, cloud architects, DevOps engineers
↘️ Topics covered: cloud design patterns, data solutions, container services

In this book, you’ll learn how to create secure and scalable applications in the cloud using Azure.

➡️ Azure for Architects is perhaps one of the best Azure books for experienced Azure developers.

Here you’ll learn some of the core architectural pieces of Azure.

After learning about the components of this cloud platform, you’ll learn how to use cloud design patterns.

Then, you’ll explore how to use enterprise security guidelines in your Azure deployments.

After that, you’ll discover ways to design and implement serverless solutions.

Finally, you’ll obtain the skills necessary to build efficient data solutions on Azure.

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9. Hands-On Azure for Developers

↘️ Ideal for: experienced Azure users
↘️ Topics covered: serverless services, storages and containers

Hands-On Azure for Developers published by Packt is another book for experienced Azure developers.

But unlike Azure for Architects, it’s geared towards developers.

➡️ Hands-On Azure for Developers is possibly one of the best Azure books focusing on containers, serverless services and storage solutions.

First, you’ll learn how to implement serverless components such as functions and logic apps.

Second, you’ll use storages and containers to integrate applications.

Third, you’ll explore messaging components like Azure Event Hubs and Azure Queue Storage.

By the end of Hands-On Azure for Developers, you should be able to develop fast, scalable cloud applications.

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10. The Azure Cloud Native Architecture Mapbook

↘️ Ideal for: aspiring Azure architects
↘️ Topics covered: infrastructure, security architecture

The Azure Cloud Native Architecture Mapbook explores Azure’s infrastructure, application, data and security architecture.

It’s similar to Azure for Architects, but here you’ll dive deeper into architectural perspectives.

➡️ In our opinion, The Azure Cloud Native Architecture Mapbook is one of the best Azure books for exploring Azure’s architecture.

You’ll explore Microsoft Cloud’s:

✅ infrastructure

✅ application

✅ data

✅ security architecture

And more.

In the process, you’ll discover different patterns for building a distributed application.

You’ll also explore containerized workloads.

Finally, you’ll use Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) with mesh technologies in order to design a microservices hosting platform.

By the end of The Azure Cloud Native Architecture Mapbook, you should know best practices for various architectural perspectives.

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11. Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Certification and Beyond

↘️ Ideal for: Azure users preparing for the AZ-500 exam, security professionals, cloud administrators and architects
↘️ Topics covered: Azure security technologies

Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Certification and Beyond is a bit different than any other book on our list for experienced Azure users.

That’s because it’s meant to help you prepare for Azure certification.

➡️ We think Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Certification and Beyond is one of the best Azure books to prepare for the AZ-500 exam.

So while Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification and Beyond is a beginner book for AZ-900 certification, this book is for the intermediate AZ-500 certification.

Most importantly, you’ll develop skills to defend your business from security threats.

You’ll also use Azure to manage:

✅ security governance

✅ policies

✅ operations

Then, you’ll become familiar with real-world Azure security strategies.

Finally, you’ll discover objectives for the AZ-500 exam.

Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Certification and Beyond is packed with tutorials, self-assessment questions and hands-on projects.

By the end of this book, you should be able to implement multi-layered security in Azure.

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Azure Books for Advanced Azure Professionals

Now let’s look at the final best Azure book on our list.

12. Mastering Azure Security

↘️ Ideal for: Azure cloud professionals, Azure architects, security professionals
↘️ Topics covered: cloud security

Mastering Azure Security teaches you how to secure cloud workloads across various networks and applications.

➡️ Mastering Azure Security is perhaps one of the best Azure books for advanced Azure professionals.

While discovering cloud security concepts, you’ll explore:

✅ how to manage cloud identities

✅ network security concepts

✅ how to keep cloud resources secure

✅ how to implement cloud governance

And much, much more.

By the end of Mastering Azure Security, you should have a firm understanding of cloud cybersecurity while being able to design secure solutions.

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Best Azure Books: Conclusion

Today we looked at the best Azure books including:

🔥 Best Overall 🔥
Learn Azure in a Month of Lunches

💥 Best for Newbies 💥
Microsoft Azure For Dummies

💸 Best Value 💸
Learn Microsoft Azure for Beginners

So whether you’re an Azure newbie or an advanced Azure professional, we think these are the best Azure books of this year.

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Readers of this best Azure books article are also reading:

• 8 Best .NET Books [Learn .NET and .NET Core ASAP]
• 8 Best Cloud Courses [Learn Cloud Computing ASAP]
• 10 Best AWS Books [Learn Amazon Web Services ASAP]
• Best AWS Course for Beginners [7 Best AWS Courses]
• 6 Best ASP.NET Courses [Learn ASP.NET ASAP]

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