Getty Images
10 training courses to prep for microservices certification
While it's not necessarily easy to become certified in microservices architecture, there are plenty of courses you can take to prep for certification exams like the S90.MSA.
Microservices ensure software systems remain scalable and fault-tolerant in the face of high traffic and heavy application workloads. By learning how to build, test, deploy and scale individual components, architects and developers can independently operate and maintain those system components in insolation. As such, becoming certified in microservice architecture management warrants consideration.
This article examines 10 microservices training courses that can help developers and architects obtain the skills and knowledge they need to become certified microservice professionals. The courses on this list can help students of all levels build the foundation needed to eventually take a microservices certification exam, like the S90.MSA.
In addition, many of these courses provide hands-on experience with essential architecture components like distributed tracing systems, REST-based services, container managers, API gateways, service mesh and CI/CD pipelines. There are also courses geared toward those looking to work with microservices within a specific framework, such as Spring, .NET or even IBM Cloud.
Introduction to Microservices Architecture Training (Learning Tree)
Learning Tree provides a two-day introductory course focused on core concepts of microservice architectures and how they're related to SOA and APIs. Beginners learn to identify new microservices and use Node.js and Docker platforms to implement them. This instructor-led training course offers online or in-person sessions within the U.S.
This course suits beginner developers. Students generally have minimal microservices development experience.
Master Microservices with Spring Boot and Spring Cloud (Udemy)
As the name suggests, this course is for developers and architects interested in learning how to create lightweight, Java-based microservices. However, on top of learning the basics of Spring Boot and Spring Cloud, students will also get a chance to work closely with REST, Kubernetes, Docker, API gateways, Swagger and other technologies tied to microservices in general.
Students will perform basic tasks like developing REST APIs with Spring Boot and using the Spring Cloud to centralize configurations and perform distributed tracing. On top of that, the course helps students bolster their ability to design RESTful web services, create containers for microservices in Docker, orchestrate services through Kubernetes and create Swagger documentation.
Building Scalable Java Microservices with Spring Boot and Spring Cloud (Coursera)
This class focuses primarily on the relationship between microservices and public cloud, but also delves into service discovery, configuration management, routing procedures and circuit-breaker patterns. Students learn how to build RESTful web services, run applications in the cloud using an external data source and integrate multiple services into a single product.
Coursera's course on Spring Boot and Spring Cloud is labeled as introductory, but students might want to come prepared with at least some understanding of basic cloud application development principles and approaches.
Scalable Microservices with Kubernetes (Udacity)
This intermediate course requires students to have a background in operations or development with an interest in managing container-based infrastructures using Kubernetes.
Udacity offers a Google-certified course where students use Docker and Kubernetes to build, test and deploy multicontainer applications. Students learn how to build CI/CD pipelines for microservices. The lessons also cover the creation of Kubernetes clusters for autoscaling and self-healing deployments.
Microservices Architecture Training (MindMajix)
MindMajix brands itself as a "live and interactive e-learning platform" that provides training for the tools used to build and deploy containerized microservices. This includes instruction on how to plan and create microservices using message events and different service patterns.
The Microservices Architecture Training course covers API gateways, adapters, CI/CD pipelines, choreography and domain-driven design. During the course's 35 hours of live online meetings via Zoom and Google Meet, students learn best practices as they work with instructors on a variety of microservice projects based on current industry use cases.
For this course, students should have some understanding of both operations and application development.
Microservices Certification Training (LearnCoz)
LearnCoz's microservices certification training offers a step-by-step guide to understanding the entire lifecycle of microservice-based applications, as well as the delivery of distributed applications through a CI/CD approach. Like MindMajix, this training provides lessons focused on current industry use cases and standards.
Before taking this course, it's recommended that students have a basic understanding of Java, including how to construct Java applications. It might also be useful to be familiar with Spring Boot and its role in microservice builds.
Certified Microservice Architect (Arcitura)
Arcitura offers a certification study kit bundle for those looking to prepare themselves for a career as a microservices architect, and even offers its own S90.MSA Certified Microservice Architect accreditation exam. Through a collection of both online tutorials and at-home study kits, Arcitura's course takes students through multiple modules of SOACP certification and a final module consisting of hands-on lab work.
While students will have to purchase a bundle of course materials to complete the microservice architect track, Arcitura provides students access to online and offline course materials regardless of microservices certification status. This means that students can complete reading exercises within course materials and access more detailed coverage of course topics at their own pace.
While Arcitura does not indicate a recommended experience level for this course, its areas of focus probably make it best for intermediate developers and architects who have a basic understanding of SOA and other service-oriented concepts.
Microservices Certification Course (Dot Net Tricks)
Dot Net Tricks provides a microservices architecture course tailored for .NET professionals looking to develop web applications through microservices patterns within Azure. Students will gain exposure to key microservices principles, as well as learn how to integrate Swagger for API documentation, decompose centralized databases into a distributed databases, implement an Ocelot API Gateway and use the CQRS pattern for microservice-based queries.
To navigate this course, students should ideally have a basic grasp of Azure, ASP .NET Core and familiarity with .NET, C## and SQL server.
Getting Started with Microservices with Istio and IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service (IBM)
In this IBM Training course, students focus on IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service and the Istio service mesh. Students will learn how to design and orchestrate microservices, define communication channels between services, as well as other related skills. Part of the coursework involves learning how a service mesh eases implementation management and secures connections between microservices.
Prior to starting this IBM Training course, students are required to complete the Cognitive Class course called Container & Kubernetes Essentials with IBM Cloud with a score of 70% or higher on in-course assessments.
Microservices Engineering Boot Camp (Cprime)
The course is geared to IT professionals, including software architects, developers, release engineers and IT operations staff. Pairing this course with another course from Cprime, Fundamentals of DevOps eLearning, might serve to further solidify your ability to obtain a microservices certification and put this architectural style into action.
This course shows students how microservices can improve IT architectures and accelerate software development and CI/CD processes. Using 16 real-world exercises, the platform teaches the skills to undertake the implementation and management of microservices without posing risks to current architectures.
