From Business Central 2024 Release Wave 1 Microsoft introduced the Business Foundation. A new way of functionality architecture. In this post, you will learn what it is, why it was introduced, and the benefits of the new approach.
- What Is The Business Foundation?
- Why Was It Introduced?
- What Is Inside?
- Why No. Series?
What Is The Business Foundation?
The Business Foundation serves as a new layer in Business Central, aimed at modularizing and improving the software architecture.
In short, it’s a new way of organizing business functionalities that brings multiple benefits.
You can find the whole release announcement here.
Why Was It Introduced?
Some of the benefits of this new architecture are:
- Purpose and Functionality: The Business Foundation is designed to consolidate common ERP functionalities that are essential across various domains within the application but do not belong to a specific functional area. This includes aspects like address management, currency management, and dimension management.
- Modular Architecture: It reimagines the ERP system architecture by breaking down the monolithic structure into smaller, more manageable modules. Each module within the Business Foundation is functionally coherent and encapsulates a specific set of related features.
- Advantages of Modularity: This new architectural approach enhances the system’s maintainability and scalability. Modules are easier to update, secure, and test, owing to their encapsulated and coherent nature. They also allow for faster compilation and more focused development, which is beneficial in a collaborative, community-driven development environment.
- Open Source Development: The development process of the Business Foundation emphasizes community involvement and open source principles. Changes and enhancements are discussed and implemented transparently, with community input playing a significant role in the evolution of the platform.
Microsoft is planning to split the monolith of the Base App into more manageable pieces of common functionalities, that’s what the Business Foundation is all about.
What Is Inside?
If you download symbols from a BC24 version, you will see that a new app has been created.
For now, all you can find is the new and moved No. Series Management objects.
If you open any of these, you will find they are all under Microsoft.Foundation namespace. Also, you will see that it has been moved from the Base application.
In AL Explorer, if you group by “Namespace” you can see all modules under the current Foundation namespace. A hint that some of these modules could be added in the future to the Business Foundation.
Old objects in the Base App have been set to “Obsolete” and moved to the Business Foundation.
Why No. Series?
As mentioned above, the first module that is part of the new Business Foundation is the No. Series Management. These are some of the reasons why it’s the first module to be separated.
- Widespread usage.
- Manageable size and complexity.
- Opportunity for improvement.
If you want to learn more about the new No. Series Management module let me know in the comments below.
That´s all. Hope you find it helpful.
I want to learn more. I’m new to BC development. I just started my career here, and I find your blog fascinating. How do you think I can begin my effective learning journey, please? Thank you.
Hi,
Follow this links to get some information to where to start. Also valuable information in the comments!
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alberto-soben-a91090162_3-steps-to-become-a-business-central-developer-activity-7159108306198773760-3riM?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alberto-soben-a91090162_5-areas-to-focus-on-as-a-business-central-activity-7168155322371584000-9CGV?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
yes, Wanna know everything.