Hey Richard,
I actually had a few conversations on this very topic at TLCC last week with Dave Aholt and some of the other devs.
It a pretty safe assumption at this point that we will always have the SQL Server database to work with (especially for reporting, data management, ETL, etc), but it's true that the trend for custom utilities and screens will be towards web services that work with the API. Although it was noted that in the majority of cases where people are using something like a service interceptor these days, all they're really doing is using the API to call ExecuteLocalProcedure and then implementing their business logic in T-SQL.
That said, the new in V14 HTML Template builder may indicate where things will go for UI customizations (custom headers, formats maybe?) within the app. The technology in use there is CSHTML, which is basically an HTML template using Razor, which gives you access to a C#/.Net environment you can use to access the REST API. It's a lot simpler than it sounds, and I'd keep an eye out for the slides from Eric Margheim and David Woodall's session on "HTML Templates in v14" when they are posted to the conference archive -- there will likely be T-Casts to come on this topic as well.
I'm not sure you need to learn any more about XML than the average person in IT; certainly not XSLT (yuck) which has been used in the past for email templates. C#/.NET will definitely help for heavily customized Razor templates, and it is also common to use C# for service interceptors (although strictly speaking these can be implemented in any language that can target the .Net CLR, F# and VB.net being the next most popular).
That leaves custom screens. Anyone who can't stand Infomaker has already had the option of building their own web service instead, and it seems highly likely that for advanced customizations this will only get more common. Particularly if this ever becomes the only method of customization, we should expect many t-casts and sample projects from the network to ensure all of us are comfortable with the transition.
You mentioned troubleshooting, too -- I think as the transition to the Services has occurred, the built-in logging capabilities have become that much more important, and also more capable -- version 14 introduces a centralized logging capability. There's definitely a lot to learn on this topic.
I think if you want to learn a new technology you can apply today and in the future, C# and the REST services, plus some web frontend would be a good recipe for success. Personally, I find Node.js more interesting than C#/.Net, so I'm going more in that direction for custom web services and only planning to learn as much C# as I need to for Razor templates and service interceptors, but I think it's a safe assumption that most Tessitura shops will continue to focus more on C#/.Net.
Can anyone recommend good resources for learning these? For example - I have a Pluralsight subscription, and can take classes through there. But sometimes it's hard to know which classes; and also to find a practical way to apply/practice what I'm learning.
Thank you in advance from yet another mostly self-taught IT person!
Stacey,
I asked this very question of our developers here just today. We also have a Pluralsight subscription and was told to start here:
https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/front-end-web-app-html5-javascript-css/description
..for training fundamentals on HTML itself as well as introductions to CSS and JavaScript/JQuery. They also recommended some Responsive courses:
https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/responsive-websites-bootstrap3/table-of-contents
and/or:
https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/responsive-html-email-design/description
I was told that the learning curve for C#/.Net and Razor is quite steep to cover off all the foundation knowledge that would be required, so I thought that I would start with the above and hope that the template editor in Tessitura would come with some targeted T-Casts to perform the necessary education on the editor.
Michele
Thanks, Michele! Those look like great places to start. I think I've already watched a good portion of the first one, but I should go back and be sure.
--Stacey