I might have an opportunity to get into Navision, and since I am quite interested in .NET, I would like to know what exactly is the connection between .NET and Navision. I understand Navision has written something in .NET that plugs into VS.NET. Is this a kind of IDE replacing C/SIDE? (Which I understand is the main IDE for Navision?). Will C/AL become a .NET language? Will Navision development move to C# or VB.NET? (I think C/AL is the main development language for Navision?) (The “.NET” in “.NET Servers” is just a marketing term, Biztalk etc. doesn’t have anything to do with .NET jet.) Lastly, is Navision fun? Will it become more fun if it moves to .NET? (I am sorry for my ignorance about Navision, and using this forums for this, but try doing a google for C#, .NET, C/AL etc…) Takk Olav Olav
First the facts, then the rumours: FACTS: Right now, Navisions C/SIDE language has absolutely nothing to do with .NET. It derieves from Turbo-Pascal 3 which dates back to 1985. There are no official claims that Navision will ever change their developement environment to .NET. RUMOURS: Let’s face it: C/SIDE has a look and feel of a programming language of the 80th. A change will come - has to come - and what would lie closer than .NET? Navision was always very close to Microsoft and now after the takeover will get even closer. I personally estimate the chance to be >80% that Navision will introduce a new developement environment based on .NET in the next two years. The strong sides of Navision are the business logic and the fact that Navision is the only software which freely deliveres the whole source-code of the application to the end-user. The weak side is the quite old-fashioned IDE. My advise to you would be the following: Try to understand C/SIDE code to an extend as to understand what a programming routine does. Concentrate on the business logic of Navision (e.g. Codeunit 80 / 21 the heart of Navision) but do not focus too much on the C/SIDE language. Programmically you should focus on .NET as this will be the future with or without Navision. Doing this, you will be one of the first to be prepared if one day Navision will officially switch to .NET. General advise to all Navision developers: Subscribe to Navisions Job-Network at jobs.navision.com even if you are not interested in a job opportunity. Knowing what kind of people Navision is trying to employ gives a very good estimy of what they have in store for us and what the future will bring. See an ad like: “Looking for an experienced COBOL programmer” and you know that hard times are going to come 
With best regards from Switzerland Marcus Fabian
Marcus, This is so true. One of the best way to see what’s coming is by looking at what skills the company wants. You just don’t know when it will happen. I saw that back in 1990. That was when Navision big time started looking for Windows specialists. But we didn’t see a product until 5 years later in 1995! Best regards, Erik P. Ernst, webmaster
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Originally posted by fabian: >First the facts, then the rumours: >FACTS: >Right now, Navisions C/SIDE language has >absolutely nothing to do with .NET. It >derieves from Turbo-Pascal 3 which dates >back to 1985. There are no official claims >that Navision will ever change their >developement environment to .NET. So what is this then: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/productinfo/casestudies/navision/default.asp We have to separate things here: That Navision uses .NET to make a tool and/or integrates in VS.NET doesn’t really mean that Navision development becomes .NET development. It makes it easier for developers to work in both environments though. .NET is as you know a multiple language environment. There is a Pascal version for .NET (I don’t know how real). There is a real COBOL version, and Borland is making a Delphi.NET. So I am trying to find out if C/SIDE / C/AL will become a .NET language, and how far in the future this is. >My advise to you would be the following: >Try to understand C/SIDE code to an extend >as to understand what a programming routine >does. Concentrate on the business logic of >Navision (e.g. Codeunit 80 / 21 the heart >of Navision) but do not focus too much on >the C/SIDE language. Programmically you >should focus on .NET as this will be the >future with or without Navision. Doing >this, you will be one of the first to be >prepared if one day Navision will >officially switch to .NET. Do I have the choice? I understand there is a 6 month certification period? I have invested a lot of time in learning .NET to get into it from the beginning. Would starting with Navision be like joining a company doing VB6 (which I also don’t know) hoping they will eventually switch to VB.NET? I think though they partly want to hire me to do .NET parts like ASP.NET front-ends, so if I can do some .NET from the beginning, and Navision is reasonably fun and with good rates it can be interesting Bye Olav
So what is this then: >Microsoft Learn: Build skills that open doors in your career>o/casestudies/navision/default.asp Probably refering to Navision Axapta… BR Nicklas