Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 Programming: Getting Started

Who This Book Is For

If you are a software developer new to Dynamics AX programming or an experienced developer migrating from an earlier version of Dynamics AX, this book is an ideal tutorial to help you avoid the common pitfalls and make the most of this advanced technology. This book is also useful if you are a solution architect or technical consultant, as it provides a deeper insight into the technology behind the solution.

What You Will Learn

• Acquaint yourself with the decision-making process to create robust technical solutions
• Design extendable data structures using appropriate technologies
• Create code that is reusable from the start, and avoid time-consuming code refactoring
• Understand how and why form logic is separated into interaction classes
• Create code that is extendable by other parties, without modifying your code
• Understand the importance of using patterns and frameworks
• Test and debug your code to check functionality and performance efficiency

In Detail

Due to its interesting capabilities such as finance and supply chain management, business intelligence and reporting, project management, and so on, Microsoft Dynamics is one of the most widely used solutions adopted by many organizations across the globe. This book is a step-by-step tutorial that covers elements from the initial design through to development. Each concept is fully explained and demonstrated by the creation of a real-world project. You will learn some really useful, advanced development techniques such as extending your code with metadata and exception handling.

This book is an invaluable tutorial if you are moving from another ERP system or language, or if you are a technical consultant with a desire to create efficient functional designs and business solutions.

About the Authors

Simon Buxton has worked with Dynamics AX since its earliest incarnations, starting out as a consultant and developer in early 1999 when Dynamics AX was known as Damgaard Axapta 1.5. Simon quickly became a team leader at Columbus IT Partners and carried out one of the first AX implementations in the UK before joining a new reseller, Sense Enterprise Solutions, as its technical director. Sense Enterprise Solutions enjoyed a global reach through the AxPact alliance and Simon was placed as AxPact's technical lead. Simon played a major role in expanding the company to become a successful Microsoft partner and was the technical lead on a number of highly challenging technical projects around the world, from the UK, to Bahrain, to the USA. These projects included developing solutions for third-party logistics, multichannel retail, and eventually developing an animal feed vertical, as well as integrating Dynamics AX into production control systems, government gateways, and e-commerce solutions, among others. Sense Enterprise Solutions was sold to a major PLC and since then, Simon has teamed up with Binary Consultants as their technical architect, where he works with some of the most technically able AX and Microsoft .NET professionals in Europe. Binary Consultants are involved in the implementation, upgrade, and support of Microsoft Dynamics AX, the development of add-ons for AX 2012 and AX 7 (under the name Axponents), and vertical solutions in animal feed. Simon was the author of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 Administration Cookbook, published in 2013, by Packt Publishing, and was a reviewer on Implementing Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 with Sure Step 2012, which was published by Packt Publishing in March 2013.

Mat Fergusson started his journey into software development in 1998 by studying software engineering at Sheffield University. After graduating, Mat took to working in IT infrastructure, quickly progressing from desktop support to infrastructure implementation and management. Armed with real-world experience of supporting users and seeing how applications and infrastructure are actually used, Mat began moving back into full-time application development, building classic ASP applications at the tail end of the .com boom. Mat was among the very early adopters of Microsoft's next generation development platform, .NET. Over the next few years, Mat would develop numerous web applications and integration projects using VB.NET and later C#, and in 2005, he started developing mobile business applications built on the Windows CE platform years before the iPhone made mobile applications ubiquitous. After completing the first release of an award-winning hosted health and safety mobile application, Mat decided to gain some broader experience and embarked on a one and a half year world tour, which saw him broadening both his IT and life skills by working for the Enterprise Applications division of HP in New Zealand and becoming a certified dive master in Thailand. Returning to the UK, Mat teamed up with his old colleagues and between them, they founded Binary Consultants, where he continues to work today. In the last 6 years, Mat has continued to refine his .NET development skills in his role as .NET Lead at Binary, and has been responsible for several highly specialist web applications for the cosmetic industry in Russia and the rapidly growing online gaming industry in Malta. In the last 2 years, Mat has started cross training in AX development, an experience that has helped him directly in writing this book with Simon. Mat's current specialty however, is the development of .NET applications for Binary's clients that extend the capabilities of AX by interfacing with the WCF services exposed by the AIF, introducing rich visualization and interactions that simply aren't possible with the AX client.