Master Cloud Development with Azure Achievements in Visual Studio

Overview

Microsoft has come up with a very clever (and fun!) way to help developers perfect their coding skills when working with Visual Studio and Windows Azure. Visual Studio Achievements for Windows Azure launched earlier this year on Channel 9 to the delight of the developer community. Similar to the Cisco’s Subnet Game we wrote about a couple of months ago, VS Achievements is a fun and engaging way to learn.

The gamified learning experience allows developers to hone in their skills and receive some recognition for their knowledge. A total of 15 new achievements based on Windows Azure cloud development have already been added, and there’s talk of more achievements coming to the platform in the upcoming months. Let’s take a look at how Visual Studio Achievements works and how you can benefit from the experience. You can download the free Windows Azure trial here as well.

Getting Started with Visual Studio Achievements for Windows Azure

To get started earning your VS achievements, you’ll need four things:

Once you’ve downloaded the plugin and logged into your Channel 9 account, you can start earning achievements based on your Visual Studio activity. When you unlock an achievement, you will see a pop-up that looks something like this:

VS Achievements for Azure

Figure 1: Visual Studio Windows Azure Achievement Unlocked
Since you’re logged into your Channel 9 account, your profile will also be updated to reflect your recent achievements while adding you to the leaderboard.

VS Achievements for Windows Azure – Collect Them All!

Currently, there are a total of 15 Visual Studio Achievements for Windows Azure all worth 5 points each that you can earn in 3 different categories:

Unleashing Windows Azure:

Windows Azure SDK Guru:

Windows Azure Toolkit Wizard:

Summary

Windows Azure Achievements in Visual Studio are just the beginning! You can earn more points and more badges and get your name on the leaderboard with some fun and challenging achievements from other categories as you impress your friends and master Visual Studio. Learn more about Visual Studio Achievements and get started today.