One of the best ways to learn a new set of tools, like those that make up a programming language and environment, is to experiment with them. We're going to have some fun doing that throughout this book. We're going to experiment where the cost of errors (otherwise known as learning) is small. Our development work will be a custom application of NAV 2017 for a relatively simple, but realistic, application.

We're going to do our work using the Cronus demo database that is available with all NAV 2017 distributions and is installed by default when we install the NAV 2017 demo system. The simplest way to install the NAV 2017 demo is to locate all the components on a single workstation. A 64-bit system running Windows 10 will suffice. Additional requirements information is available in the MSDN library (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-nav/system-requirements-for-microsoft-dynamics-nav) under the heading System Requirements for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017. Other helpful information on installing NAV 2017 (the demo option is a good choice for our purposes) and addressing a variety of setup questions is available in the NAV 2017 area of the MSDN library. In fact, all the help information for NAV 2017 is accessible in the MSDN library.

The Cronus database contains all of the NAV objects and a small, but reasonably complete, set of data populated in most of the system's functional applications areas. Our exercises will interface very slightly with the Cronus data, but will not depend on any specific data values.

To follow along with all our exercises as a developer, you will need a developer license for the system with rights allowing the creation of objects in the 50,000 to 50,099 number range. This license should also allow at least read access to all the objects numbered below 50,000. If you don't have such a license, check with your Partner or your Microsoft sales representatives to see if they will provide a training license for your use.