Most Microsoft Dynamics AX developers are very familiar with debugging using the Microsoft Dynamics AX debugger. However, because services are compiled to CIL, you'll spend a lot more time with the Visual Studio debugger. Some find this off-putting, but the debugging process is actually very straightforward.

Developers may be used to debugging, but tracing is another story. Probably one of the most underused features of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is the Tracing cockpit, which is first and foremost a tool for measuring performance. This is something you should always do when developing with Microsoft Dynamics AX, including when using its services. You can also use it to extract tracing information about X++ code from an environment where debugging is not an option and then study it using the Microsoft Dynamics AX Trace parser.

In a live environment, it is better to use WCF tracing; it has less performance overhead and provides you with a wealth of information...