Dynamic CRM 2011 5 developers 5 databases - how to sync solutions

Question

We are 5 developers working today with 1 database.
We have always one ASYNC service working in order to allow debugging, it means that when a developer wants to debug async, he announce to the others that he is hijacking the async service to his machine till he finishes the debugging.
We want to switch to a database per developer, there are a lot of issues with that, for example syncing schema changes / solutions with other programmers/

What is the best practice with large team of developers, is there any tool / methodology that is best for large teams.
Also, in general, what is the best practice for large teams developing Dynamic CRM 2011. Thanks

Answer 1

Highly recommended reference: Microsoft released a very thorough whitepaper on Lifecycle management. Read about it here.

A typical development flow could be

• Developers develop against their own personal development organization (Online/On-premise), in a solution with the same publisher / name
• They export the developer solution
• They unpack the zip file into the XML structure
• And check it into source control, merging it with the master version

A typical deployment into the integration organization could be

• Get a latest version of the XML structure from source control
• Package it into a .zip solution
• Import it into the integration organization

This way, you have a full history of all changes, linked to the developers, and you can make controlled merges, using merging tools you're familiar with.

A developer can always get a latest version from source control, package it and deploy it in his own development organization.

Answer 2

Typically, I have worked/advised the following:

• All devs work on their own virtual system. Much easier debugging. No trampling on or coordinating with others. I use VirtualBox.
• Work is exported (unmanaged solutions) into a common build system.
• Work is merged into the relevant managed solution(s) in build.
• Managed solution(s) exported from build and applied to test / uat / pre-production etc.
• Managed solution(s) applied to production environment.