What's the best way of learning CRM Development?

A colleague recently asked me this question, and I’ll admit that it took me a few minutes to think about the answer. Learning how to write code that extends functionality within or outside of CRM is not something that you can just pick up from scratch. You usually need to have good experience with coding first, before you can safely venture into writing your first plugin or form level JScript function. Fundamental, and arguably, crucial knowledge of the CRM platform is essential too, as this ensures that you don’t put forward solutions that the application can handle natively. In this week’s blog post, I will first clarify what CRM Development actually means, before outlining my “top tips” on how you can develop your skills to become a superstar CRM Developer.

So what is CRM Development, and is it the same as CRM Customisation?

It’s important that we first clarify what the difference is between these two types of activities, as although there is some cross-over, often they are split out into two distinct roles - a CRM Customiser and CRM Developer. Someone who occupies the first of these roles frequently spends the majority of their time working with CRM Solutions and the Customizations area of CRM. Customisers will commonly be involved in the creation of new entities, fields, system views, processes, business rule & workflows, to name a few. As a consequence, they will more often than not have a great deal knowledge of what the platform is capable of and are generally in the best position to offer support and mentoring to colleagues who are struggling with something in CRM (for example, how to create a personal view).

In comparison, a CRM Developer may spend very little time working with solutions and customisations; although they will be expected to have a general awareness of what the platform is capable of doing, they will mostly only ever be concerned with modifying plug-ins, plug-in steps and web resources from within solutions. CRM Development instead encompasses a broad canvas of work, all of which is geared towards extending the native functionality of the application. An example list may include:

Writing form level JScript, for scenarios where a Business Rule can’t achieve the desired results (we’ve already learned the importance of considering Business Rules as a first step option in these scenarios)
Developing custom plug-ins in C#/VB.NET to execute at specific trigger points within the underlying database transaction e.g. after a Contact record has been updated.
Building custom workflow assemblies in C#/VB.NET to further enhance the options available as part of a workflow or dialog.
Setting up custom Web Resources in HTML/Silverlight, that can be embedded within CRM forms or dashboards.

A good way of remembering the difference is to remember that CRM Customisation can all be done from within the application itself, whereas CRM Development involves work created outside the application to achieve specific business requirements.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here’s my top 5 list on how you can learn CRM Development:

Learn C# First

As well as providing you with everything you would ever need from a plug-in/custom workflow development perspective, having a good grasp of C# can make learning JScript a lot more easier. Both languages have a lot of similarity, with some important differences that require noting. First, JScript is largely indifferent when it comes to working with data types, whereas C# is very fussy when it comes to declaring and casting your data types correctly. Secondly, whereas C# development work can be assisted via the use of early-bound class files, JScript can be annoyingly unsympathetic when you write code, with errors only cropping up when you attempt to run your code. Putting aside these differences though, being able to say that you have a good grasp of C# on your C.V. can assist greatly when seeking out roles involving CRM, particularly given such roles will be looking for experience of integrating CRM with third party applications; C# is your Swiss army knife in these situations.

The SDK is your treasure trove.

There are countless number of code examples & snippets enclosed within the SDK, which include all of the languages that you would use to extend CRM - JScript, C# and even VB.NET! These are typically in a state where you can easily deploy them to a test CRM environment, execute them and then playback within Visual Studio via the Plugin Profiler, so you can understand what they are doing. The enclosed help file (which is replicated fully on the MSDN website) is also really detailed in explaining what you can do when developing for CRM. You can download the latest version of the SDK (updated recently for the 2016 Spring Wave) here.

Get an MSDN Subscription

I have extolled the virtues of what an MSDN subscription can provide to Microsoft professionals previously, so I won’t cover old ground. What I will highlight from this is that the Imagine Academy, included as part of a subscription, contains nearly all of the courses found on the Dynamics Learning Portal (available to CRM partners as a learning resource “hub” for all Dynamics products). It also gives you access to a number of important, developer-focused resources that you add to your arsenal and use to further enhance your knowledge of C#, JScript etc. If you’re fortunate enough to have enough money to obtain an Enterprise MSDN Subscription, or your employer has a few spare licenses, then you will be able to get your hands on a coveted CRM On-Premise license key as well. Working with the application in whatever capacity you can is the best and surest way to learn, as opposed to simply watching videos and reading online articles.

Pass those Exams

There are a wide plethora of different CRM exams available to take currently, and it can be quite confusing deciding which ones will benefit you best on your road to become a CRM Developer. I would suggest that the best exams to target a passing mark on would be the following:

The question you may be asking though is “How important are exams, compared with actual work experience?". I have heard many debates surrounding the importance of certification, on both sides of the argument; one criticism is that they are generally not a good way equipping candidates with the practical, real-life knowledge and experience that ultimately must come to the fore when working with CRM on a day-to-day basis. Another argument against them is that they can sometimes draw you towards focusing on features of a particular application that is either not very good or is done much better by an alternative product. Notwithstanding this, I think exams hold an important place in demonstrating to colleagues and potential recruiters just how serious you are about your career and in ensuring that you keep yourself up-to-date with the appropriate technology - in these modern times, staying off the ball for as little as a month can put you behind! Going back to the original purpose of this post, the curriculum on both of these exams will leave you in a position where you have achieved a good balance of knowledge: both of what CRM, as a platform, is capable of out of the box, and what you can do to develop further solutions for the application.

And finally, believe in yourself

This last tip may sound a little bit clichéd, but achieving your desire to become good at CRM Development is something that only you have control over. The journey may be hard, and you will often fail more than you succeed at first; but if you keep working at it, never give up and, most importantly, trust in yourself and your abilities, then you will succeed in increasing your knowledge and expertise in CRM.