Dynamics AX 7 Development - What’s new in X++

In this article I describe main changes in X++ language for AX 7. Almost changes were appear because of IDE Visual Studio.

No more p-code

1. In AX 7 the new X++ compiler generates CIL only

2. Compiled X++ code now runs exclusively as .NET CIL

3. CIL runs much faster

Enhancements to X++

1. try … catch … finally 

2. Initialize class’s field in the field’s declaration statement. 

3. Declare variables in smaller scopes, not just at the start of methods.

4. var keyword is available as a shortcut that allows the compiler to infer the type of the declared variable.

5. A class’s fields can be static. 

6. An attribute decoration can omit suffix of attribute name if suffix is "Attribute". 

Backward-incompatible changes to X++

1. No longer part of the X++ language (compile error) - changeSite, pause, window 

2. The keywords client and server will be ignored, because all compiled X++ code is executed as .NET CIL on the server.

3. CIL helper methods have been removed. 

4. AX 7 eliminates the concept of AOT > Jobs. Instead use static main method of a class, and then set the class as the startup object from the AX7 project.

5. Use const type instead macros.

AX7 LINQ Provider for use in C#

Language Integrated Query (LINQ) is a set of classes and methods that enable you to access data that is stored in a variety of places and formats. 

When very few records are fetched C# LINQ is three times longer than while select.