front matter
This book started, like any journey, with a single step. The services in Azure were running fine, but I still had a lot of code to write for the data processing. I was months into the implementation when I saw Mike Stephens’s email. I wondered, “Is this legit?” Why would a book publisher contact me?
I’d been raising my profile as an Azure developer. Writing code, designing new systems, and migrating platforms are part of a team lead’s work. I was going to conferences on Azure technology too, and writing up what I learned for my company. Put it on social media; if you don’t tell someone, how will they know? Writing a book seemed like the next step up. So I jumped at it.
I’ve always enjoyed teaching. Maybe I should say lecturing because when I open my mouth, I end up explaining a lot of things. I got my MCSD certification after a few months of studying for the last test. I told others they should get it too. That’s what I wanted to write: a study guide for my next certification, based on this new analysis system I was building. Studying reveals how many options you have and I love to have options. Like any long journey, writing a book presents many options too. This journey ended up rather far from where I imagined that first step would lead.