What is needed in order to become a Dynamics NAV Developer?

gockata

Hi,

I come from C++/C# world and I know that for programming Dynamics NAV a knowledge of C/AL is needed + knowledge of a How ERP systems works, but a thing that is not clear to me is what do I need in order to have a Development environment access?

The current situation is following:

- My company uses NAV 2009 trough a Microsoft Partner company.
- My company is not very happy with the Support of the Microsoft Partner Company that we hire.
- My company wants to employ 'in house developer' (me) who will support company Dynamics NAV with small fixes and updates.

So what Do I need to start Supporting the system myself?

Thanks in advance.

kaspermoerch

Your best option is to add the developer granules (Application Builder and Solution Builder) to your companies license. This must be done by your Microsoft Partner and you will have to pay for it.

With the new license you will be able to do some development - but there will be limitations to what you can do. It is not possible as a customer to get an actual Development License. That would require your company to become a Microsoft Partner themselves.

One of the limitations will be that you would have to buy object range before developing new functionality e.g. when you create new tables or codeunits.

Bear in mind that if you mess things up in your application, you will have the full responsibility and it could become quite expensive if you need a Microsoft Partner to clean up.

EvR

And if you're a c++/c# developer, you need a lot patience!
Compared to what you are used to, NAV is like a big old lazy dinosaur And you won't have full control over your stack.

bbrown

Another option is to search for another partner of free-lancer with which your company is comfortable working with. "Small fixes and updates" is unlikely to justify the ongoing cost of maintaining an in-house developer.

kaspermoerch

Your best option is to add the developer granules (Application Builder and Solution Builder) to your companies license. This must be done by your Microsoft Partner and you will have to pay for it.

With the new license you will be able to do some development - but there will be limitations to what you can do. It is not possible as a customer to get an actual Development License. That would require your company to become a Microsoft Partner themselves.

One of the limitations will be that you would have to buy object range before developing new functionality e.g. when you create new tables or codeunits.

Bear in mind that if you mess things up in your application, you will have the full responsibility and it could become quite expensive if you need a Microsoft Partner to clean up.

gockata

Exactly the way I thought it is.

Thank you for your answer

EvR

And if you're a c++/c# developer, you need a lot patience!
Compared to what you are used to, NAV is like a big old lazy dinosaur And you won't have full control over your stack.

bbrown

Another option is to search for another partner of free-lancer with which your company is comfortable working with. "Small fixes and updates" is unlikely to justify the ongoing cost of maintaining an in-house developer.

gockata

EvR wrote: »

And if you're a c++/c# developer, you need a lot patience!
Compared to what you are used to, NAV is like a big old lazy dinosaur And you won't have full control over your stack.

Yes its a dinosaur and my patience is coming to an end
But its not hard beside standard development problems like:
1. No history of any kind (features, bug fixes, documentation)
2. Outdated version ( NAV 2009 R1)
3. Meanwhile we are preparing to migrate to a newer version (NAV 2016)

There is no better way for a developer to start at his new job position right...?

Marije_Brummel

You guys should join me in my NAV master class where I will teach you how to look at NAV and C/AL as if it were object oriented and how to make programming more efficient, controlable and fun. Next one is in Tampa in a few weeks.

danabaker

Hello, people! Here are some my thought about that:
Considering that Dynamics NAV developer specializes in the design and architect he has to certain set of skills, knowledge, and experience. These are must have skills of a NAV programmer: HTML, NAV development experience, C/AL Synthesis, Dynamics CRM, etc. Moreover I have found this article about microsoft dynamics nav developer you may find more information there not only about skills but about other nuances.