When my colleagues are stuck on something, I always encourage them to do their best in Google search and then ask for help in the respective tech community, because good research is always important to nurture knowledge. But having said that, I always ensure that they check the Microsoft docs, if they haven’t, I suggest them to look into docs.microsoft.com.

Most developers start their career at the same pace and depend on random Google Searches. Even I started my career with a trust in blogs and communities. The blogs and videos are always helpful to make you understand the topics easily, but when you need deep technical knowledge, official documents or SDK documentation is the best source. These documents let you know the capabilities and limitations of the platform you work on.

Let’s take an example, if you are stuck at some point while using Power Apps Functions or D365APIs, what will you generally do? You might search it randomly and copy/paste the available piece of code (like we all do).

Can you imagine what can happen later to the system?

Is the code you copied supported by Microsoft?

Is it the optimal solution for your system and users?

SDK documentation is the answer to all these questions. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are not doing any unsupported customization.

We all know that the official documents are helpful but, do you know why people are not looking into these documents while working on something? It’s because we are all lazy…. These documents contain a broad range of technical information and are not as simple and easy to understand as individual blogs. But for technical knowledge and long-term future in D365 and Power Apps, it is advisable not to go with easy solutions. Reading through the official documents will definitely pay back your efforts. Once you start reading these documents and comprehend the topics, they become your true consultant.

In the start of our career, people may be short on time or lazy to check and read the SDK Documents. It wasn’t different for me either. But back in those days, I came across the blog of Ben Hosk and one of his statements struck me so hard “The CRM SDK can be stubborn, difficult, and renowned for not suffering fools gladly.” Reading this was the time when I decided to look into the Microsoft Documents along with the solutions from other Blogs and Videos available.

Now, referring the official documents for solution has more or less turned into a practice for me. If time does not permit to go through the documents, I would rather expand the deadline rather than compromise on the authenticity and quality of the solution. Moreover, I try to cover the topics during the weekend and learn something new from the official Microsoft Documents. So, if you are not familiar with these documents or fail to refer them even after knowing its benefits, it’s definitely a loss of opportunity to learn new things while at work. 

So, you should never bypass “learning something new with every customization you do”!!!!