Let me start this with a small disclaimer: I chose the title a bit provoking with intention and I do aim for a 100% correct way of takling the tasks I will describe. BUT, if you have any doubt that my 100% way might not actually be 100%, let me know! Lets start discussions and learn from each other :)

Introducing the “No Shortcuts” Series: The 100% Correct Way to Develop for Business Central

Developing for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is both powerful and complex. With its evolving platform and rich capabilities, writing extensions (apps) that are maintainable, upgrade-safe, and AppSource-ready can be a challenge.

Over the years, I’ve seen some code and I have written some code - and more often than not code ends up being some kind of trade off. While that Code might get you up and running fast, it often lead to technical debt, upgrade pain, and AppSource certification headaches.

This blog series aims to make things different.

What This Series Is About

“No Shortcuts” is a deep-dive, back-to-basics approach that focuses on how to do Business Central development the right way—every single time.

It’s important to note: this series is not a beginner’s tutorial on how to write AL code or use the tooling. Instead, it assumes you have some experience with AL development and want to learn the correct, best practice approach that avoids shortcuts and ensures quality.

Content Scope

The very first post kicks off with the essential foundation:
How to Set Up a New Development Project/App — The 100% Correct Way

After that, the series will mainly focus on coding and development tasks, such as:

Creating Object
Creating Fields
How write proper Error messages
Page Design
and much more…

The series emphasizes the right way to do these tasks, not just the how-to steps. You’ll gain insight into why certain approaches matter and how they improve your app’s long-term stability and maintainability.

Why “No Shortcuts”?

Because every shortcut you take today becomes a problem tomorrow.

This series isn’t about quick hacks or tricks to “make it work.” It’s about building solid foundations that make your development sustainable and future-proof.

Even if you’re building small projects or internal apps, these best practices pay off in reliability, upgradeability, and maintainability.

And don’t get me wrong. I really don’t think its possible to follow these practices all the time in every project. But I do think, its important that a developer is aware of how something should be done, only then he can decide how to build a solution fitted to the situation.

Who Should Follow This Series?

Business Central developers with some AL experience looking to level up
ISVs preparing apps for AppSource certification
Teams building reusable internal frameworks or libraries

If you’re new to AL development and want beginner tutorials, this series may feel overwhelming or too focused on best practices rather than how-to steps.

Let’s Get It Right From The Start

If you’re ready to stop patching technical debt and start building apps that last, stay tuned.

The next post will cover the first critical step:

How to Set Up a New Development Project/App — The 100% Correct Way