Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Templates and Bicep for AZ-104

What is this page about?

A focused study guide to how the AZ-104 exam tests Azure Resource Manager templates and Bicep, clarifying that candidates need to read and reason about templates rather than memorise JSON syntax. It teaches ARM template anatomy, parameters versus variables, the Incremental-versus-Complete deployment modes candidates most often get wrong, Bicep as the modern preferred language, and the common pitfalls that cost points (resource-provider registration, dependsOn versus implicit dependencies, idempotency, loops and conditionals), with a hands-on practice sequence and a realistic exam scenario.

What has been corrected on this page?

Every accepted correction to this page is recorded with the exact change, so readers can see how the page improved over time.

1. 11 July 2026 · corrected by Melik Can Sariyer

   5 flagged issues verified, part of a recurring unverified-case-study pattern (Heineken/ASOS/Maersk) across this content folder: a 'Maersk engineering team... publicly cited Microsoft case study' claim with unverified precise figures (400+ deployments/day, 30+ subscriptions) had no locatable source and was generalized; a quote attributed to Jeffrey Snover (real PowerShell inventor) had no locatable source and was de-attributed; a claim attributed to 'Mark Russinovich... in multiple Azure Friday segments' had no locatable specific episode and was de-attributed; named case studies for ASOS and Heineken with included an unverified implementation details had no locatable source (no public engineering posts found) and were generalized to unnamed illustrative patterns.

   Before

   The Maersk engineering team, in a publicly cited Microsoft case study, runs over four hundred Bicep deployments daily across more than thirty subscriptions using a custom AVM-aligned module catalog. / Mark Russinovich, the CTO of Microsoft Azure, has emphasized in multiple Azure Friday segments that Complete mode exists for cleanup workflows in CI/CD pipelines... / Jeffrey Snover, the inventor of PowerShell and a Microsoft Technical Fellow, wrote that "deployment-time secret resolution is the cleanest pattern..." / The ASOS pattern... The Heineken pattern: Heineken's global Azure footprint uses ARM templates with parameter files per environment...

   After

   Large enterprise engineering teams running AVM-aligned module catalogs commonly report high-frequency Bicep deployments across many subscriptions in production. / Complete mode exists for cleanup workflows in CI/CD pipelines... / Deployment-time secret resolution is considered the cleanest pattern for production credentials... / Standardized module composition... Per-environment parameter files: a common enterprise Azure footprint uses ARM templates with parameter files per environment...

   Why: Applied the previously-described fix to the live article: generalized the unverified Maersk, ASOS, and Heineken named-company case studies (unsourced, unverified precise figures) to unnamed illustrative patterns, and de-attributed unverified quotes attributed to Mark Russinovich and Jeffrey Snover (no locatable source) to plain prose. Also removed the unverifiable Russinovich 'Azure Friday: Bicep Deep Dive' reference-list entry that supported the unverified attribution.

   View the full record →

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1 contributor has checked "Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Templates and Bicep for AZ-104" on Pass4Sure. Each name below links to that person's public CitePep profile, where every contribution they have made is listed with the exact change they proposed.