AI-assisted development for Business Central extensions
AppoGen uses AI to help with research, design, building and testing. This page explains the order of work, and what a developer would see at each step.
The problem
Generating code is only one part of building a reliable Business Central extension. The need must be understood, the standard product assessed, the functionality agreed, the build tested and the users trained. A team that starts with a vague requirement spends its time guessing. A team that starts with an agreed design spends it building.
How an extension helps
An extension adds to Business Central through AL code (the Business Central programming language), without changing the standard product. It can add a field, a rule, an approval step, a report or a link to another system. We build things that add to or change how a system works. We do not build anything that bypasses its security or licensing.
How AppoGen handles the request
Clarify, structure, document. The need is written down as a requirements document that the customer approves.
Assess standard Business Central and name what is supported and what needs extending.
Design, review, approve. The customer reviews a storyboard and a functional document, with flow maps. Nothing is built until they approve one version.
Acceptance criteria are produced with the design.
Build to our written coding standards.
Test against the acceptance criteria in the approved design, and fix what fails before anything reaches the customer.
Review. A separate AI reviewer that did not write the code checks it against the approved design and the standards.
Install in the customer's sandbox first, and in production once they accept.
What you receive
For the customer: a requirements document, a functional document, a training manual and the installed extension. For a team that wants the source: it can be bought for an app after delivery, under a separate licence. Business Dynamics Pro keeps the intellectual property.
An example
Suppose a team asks for a nightly check. It would find service contracts close to ending, create a task for the account owner and list them in one report. The design would name the new records, the background job and the report. That makes it a larger job, because of the background job and the link to another system. This is an illustration, not a delivered app.
Questions
Does this replace developers?
We make no such claim. It describes how AppoGen works.
Is the code reviewed?
By a separate AI reviewer that did not write it.
Is customer text treated as instructions?
No. It is information about the business.
Can we have the source?
It can be bought for an app after delivery.
Does it change standard objects?
It adds to Business Central through an extension.
Where is it tested?
Against the acceptance criteria in the approved design.
Keep reading
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a product of Microsoft. AppoGen is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Microsoft.
Describe the need. See the design before the build.
You approve the design before anything is built.