Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 underwent a name change in what would have been version 7. The official name is now Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations. It isn't just that the version number has been dropped, but it appears to have been adopted into the Microsoft Dynamics 365 product suite. The product is not a component of Microsoft Dynamics 365, which is just a way to group Microsoft's various business solutions. We can't, therefore, shorten the name to Dynamics 365, we will refer the product by either its full name or the abbreviation Operations.
New features will be introduced to Operations as both a continual and cumulative process. There are two main types of update, Platform and Application. Platform updates are similar to the binary updates in prior releases, but also contain AOT elements that are now locked and can no longer be changed. Platform updates can contain changes to the language, and new features have been brought in with each bi-yearly release. When running in the Cloud, Microsoft will periodically release updates to the Platform for you. This is needed, since the it uses Azure SQL Server and they may need to service the platform in order to maintain compatibility to the database server.
Application updates are changes to the other packages that make up the source code of Operations, and can be considered similar to the meta data updates in previous releases of Operations.
This book was started on the May 2016, or Update 1 release and has been updated with each release. The version on publication is Update 5, released in March 2017.
All development work is carried out in conjunction with Visual Studio Team Services or VSTS. It used to be optional, but the implementation process that is managed through Lifecycle Services (LCS) requires that we have a VSTS project linked to it to function to its fullest. This is not just for source control and work management, but it is also used when performing code upgrades.
Please see the following links for further reading on Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations:
- For more information on LCS, please see the link, https://lcs.dynamics.com/Logon/Index
- An overview of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations for Developers and IT Pros is available at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/operations/dev-itpro/
- To obtain an evaluation copy of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations, please see the link, https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/operations/dev-itpro/dev-tools/get-evaluation-copy
All development work in Operations is either performed on a development virtual machine hosted in Azure, or a local virtual machine. Each developer will use their own virtual machine. Azure hosted virtual machines are deployed through LCS under your own Azure subscription, and can be used to development, learning, and demonstration. Once, as a customer, a cloud hosted subscription has been bought, you are provided 3 environments as part of that subscription under Microsoft's subscription. These are Build, Sandbox, and Production. The build sever is a OneBox server (all in one virtual machine) that is also labelled Development, but it should always be used as a build server and not for development. The sandbox server is a full environment, with multiple servers using a separate Azure SQL Server. The production environment is the environment that you (as a customer) will go live with. All code must first be deployed to the sandbox before it is applied to live, which this is enforced by LCS - no more 'quick fixes' directly into live, and no access to SQL server for the production environment.
The on premise version of Operations may allow us to bypass some of these rules, but we shouldn't try - these practices of forcing code through a full testing cycle are very important. Waiting a couple of days for a needed feature may be inconvenient, but regression is perceived very negatively by users. During the implementation we ask a lot of the users, they are already busy with their jobs and are being asked to also help with testing new software, so user buy-in to the project is a critical factor, and regression is the most efficient way of eroding the initial excitement of delivering new software.
For local development virtual machines that are often the cheapest option, we will download the virtual machine from Microsoft Connect. This is a website used for many programs at Microsoft, and access is provided to partners and customers.
