{"id":79,"date":"2018-09-24T19:09:57","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T19:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fredborg.org\/?p=79"},"modified":"2019-06-13T19:26:47","modified_gmt":"2019-06-13T19:26:47","slug":"lets-decentralize-nav","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredborg.org\/?p=79","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Decentralize NAV"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a long time, we have all been trying to put as many things as possible inside our NAV, using our ERP system more like a development platform than an ERP system. The reason for this is that it has been easy and if we keep all functionality inside NAV then we do not have to learn anything new, and further more we can keep a monopoly on how our customer has to work. But as the world changes we have to change with it. The idea behind having one system to rule them all is no longer the way our world works, if you take a look around the industry we are seeing more and more micro services and specialized systems, and since these smaller systems only has one focus, then there is no way that we can compete with them, with our giant system.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0many\u00a0ways\u00a0you\u00a0can\u00a0compare\u00a0what\u00a0is\u00a0happening\u00a0now, with\u00a0what\u00a0happened\u00a0back in the\u00a0day with\u00a0development\u00a0mythologies,\u00a0where\u00a0once\u00a0everyone\u00a0worked\u00a0using
\nthe\u00a0waterfall\u00a0model\u00a0now\u00a0a\u00a0days\u00a0we\u00a0all\u00a0try\u00a0to\u00a0work\u00a0agile.<\/p>\n

To put it in\u00a0other\u00a0words\u00a0we\u00a0can\u00a0see\u00a0our\u00a0beloved\u00a0NAV as a hammer\u00a0while\u00a0all\u00a0these\u00a0small systems all have\u00a0their own\u00a0tool\u00a0shape,\u00a0so\u00a0while\u00a0you\u00a0can\u00a0force a\u00a0screw\u00a0into\u00a0a\u00a0piece\u00a0of\u00a0wood\u00a0using\u00a0a hammer\u00a0we\u00a0all\u00a0know\u00a0that\u00a0using\u00a0a\u00a0screwdriver\u00a0is\u00a0much\u00a0easier\u00a0😉\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If we look at how Microsoft is changing the way we can develop in the future though extensions, then it would also seem like that even they have seen the direction our world is moving. So,\u00a0in the future we\u00a0will\u00a0all be working with NAV as just another system that is part of a larger network of connected services.\u00a0The way that we do this is through different API\u2019s, where some of the most common of course are webservices that use either SOAP or REST, but there are also a lot of other types of API\u2019s and ways to get data,\u00a0some\u00a0system still\u00a0uses\u00a0the outdated\u00a0method\u00a0like file exchange, and\u00a0furthermore\u00a0the data that you\u00a0receive\u00a0can come in many different formats, where you have XML, JSON and CSV as the most common, some API\u2019s also creates their own formats or they create their own standards of how their data is structured. All of these\u00a0variations, can make even the best developer want to pull out his or her hair, and this is not made easier by the fact that C\/AL and AL are very limited in what tools they have\u00a0available.\u00a0So\u00a0wouldn’t\u00a0it be\u00a0great\u00a0if all we had to do is call one service, which would always return the same data format, and yes you\u00a0guessed\u00a0it that is\u00a0exactly\u00a0what we will be creating in the next couple of posts, but be warned you will need to know at least\u00a0some\u00a0C# to be able to follow the examples, in this post there will be no\u00a0coding\u00a0but I will give a\u00a0run though\u00a0what a master service is and how it can help make your life easier, and in the next post I will cover the following topics:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n