October is the month to attend Developer Training
I am going to get up on my soap box now and do some preaching.
<SoapBox mode="with conviction">
To all the managers of development staff who wish to work with Microsoft Dynamics GP:
Invest in your teams. Get them trained in the tools they need to use. And the best training is in the classroom face to face with an experienced trainer who can also provide information that is not in the training manuals, such as hints, best practices and real life experiences.
I have lost count of the number of times I have assisted new developers via email, chat or newsgroups who are being pushed to complete projects by a deadline and have not been trained in the tools they are trying to use. The investment in the training (both time and money) would have been returned many times over by the improved efficiency of a developer who knows what they are doing and is not fumbling around in the dark, using trial and error to see if they can get something to work.
I have been developing in various platforms and environments/languages since 1983 and know how frustrating a new tool is to learn without training. I have been developing for Great Plains Dynamics since version 2.0 in 1994 and was the first non Great Plains employee to be a Certified Trainer for Dexterity. I have trained and mentored many developers and I know that a good foundation can make all the difference.
So, invest in your people and the skills they need. The investment will be returned many times over and your projects will be more efficient in both time and costs.
</SoapBox>
That said.... wow, what a coincidence, in Orlando, this month there are two training courses running and I would recommend attending both of them:
The reason that I suggest attending both is that a modern Microsoft Dynamics GP developer has many tools available to them and each tool has its own benefits and features and knowledge in one tool complements the knowledge of the other tool.
For example: a Visual Studio Tools developer will find it much easier to integrate with Microsoft Dynamics GP when they understand how the underlying Dexterity code works.
Just before you complain that Dexterity is a dead language. It is not dead, it is still being developed for the upcoming versions of Microsoft Dynamics GP and it will be around for many years yet. It is still the most powerful tool for tightly integrating with Microsoft Dynamics GP and for changing existing behaviour of the code.
So, book your training (and travel & accommodation) and invest in the future.
David
30-Oct-2008: If you have missed the October Training, please register your interest in obtaining training on the What Training do you want and where? post.