Table Of ContentBIRMINGHAM—MUMBAI
Enterprise Integration with Azure Logic
Apps
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To John and Mary Bennett. John went to the "university of life" – started
his own business, worked hard his entire life, and is now about to
celebrate his 70th birthday this month. I am proud to be his son.
To my wife, Hayley, for being a rock of sterling support while I wrote
this book.
To my son, Sebastian, whose own A-level successes this year in Maths,
Physics, and Chemistry have inspired me and spurred me on to get this
book finished. He always inspires me with his creativity expressed
academically as well as through the medium of Minecraft!
– Matthew Bennett
Foreword
The world is moving in new ways – faster, more flexible, you could say
"disruptive" ways.
Progress in many fields is now made with less time refining the design and
more time building, trying, evaluating, and building again better.
You wouldn't build a rocket over many years, with every detail designed to
the nth degree, only to find that it doesn't work when you finally test it. You'd
build a rocket in a few months, launch it, see what worked and what failed,
and then build a better rocket and try again. The overall result is both better
and quicker to reach.
In IT systems development, this is also becoming the case. Old server-based
middleware solutions are making way for cloud-based "no-code" integrations
and workflows, with quick deployment and easy improvement and
adjustment to fit in with the more agile project workspace. This is where
Azure Logic Apps comes in, allowing faster and more flexible development
of no- or low-code solutions.
Azure Logic Apps can be used to create, develop, and deploy automated
cloud-based workflows, using pre-created components with little effort and
little code. These workflows can integrate your data, services, apps, CRM,
and ERP in a highly scalable way, and quickly get your systems working
together efficiently. But you can't just start from zero. If you're going to build
and launch a rocket to see which bits work, you need to know and draw on
sound engineering principles and use them in new ways.
It is the same with logic apps; you need to know and understand the tools, to
quickly build the workflows and gain the benefits. You need some sort of
guide.
Matthew Bennett is a senior cloud developer with experience in many
business systems areas, from the Azure cloud to programming, from AX to
BI. He also has a vast amount of experience in IT training at all levels, and
with all types of learners. He has used this real-world and training experience
combined to create another of his straightforward, easy-to-follow study
guides, this time for Azure Logic Apps.
The guide takes you step by step through the aspects of creating workflows,
connectors, triggers, and the actions that make up the logic app environment,
as well as the knowledge needed for the supporting cloud environment.
There are plenty of hands-on tutorials, projects, step-by-step examples,
scenarios, and tips to help you get to grips with the concepts.
To achieve this, the guide also covers related areas of the Azure portal,
understanding the environment and resource groups, managing the cloud
tenancy, development, testing and production, working with JSON,
extracting data with SQL, manipulating simple and complex data, and many
other tricks and tips.
Although a low-code solution, there is still some "programming-like" stuff to
be familiar with, and the tutorials take you through the required parts of
JSON, XML, SQL, REST, APIs, and others, while using them to work with
complex data, use variables and data types, and so on.
Once these tools are understood and practiced, you will be able to quickly
implement your own logic apps to integrate and automate.
Whether we are talking about a workflow as simple as sending an email or
alert when a new file is uploaded, or a more complex workflow routing and
processing new customer orders across separate on-premises and cloud
services, all while extracting data from an old database system, with the
results entered in the new systems, it all becomes possible with a little
practice.
So, whether you're looking to automate your current system, interface an old
system in a new system, or just learn new techniques, this guide will help you
get there.
Tim Childe FLPI
Head of Teaching and Learning, Netcom Training Ltd
Contributors
About the author
Matthew Bennett is an experienced IT author, Microsoft Corporate Trainer,
and former IT teacher, having been involved in the IT sector for 22 years. He
currently works at Platform Housing Group, a national housing association,
and creates cloud applications for a living. He has worked on integration
between legacy systems and CRM products for the past 2 years but has
specialized in Dynamics since 2008. Matthew studied for postgraduate
diplomas in management studies and sound design, originally planning to
work in film, but fell into a successful career in IT and has not looked back
since. "Every day is a learning day" is his motto, and when he joined Pearson,
who share the same motto, he was convinced that he was in the right
profession.
About the reviewers
Bhavani Sikarwar is a seasoned integration specialist with 9 years'
experience in various integration technologies, including Microsoft BizTalk
Server, Azure Integration Services, and MuleSoft, He holds a Bachelor of
Engineering degree in electronics and telecommunication and several
industry-recognized certifications, including Azure Solution Architect, Azure
DevOps Engineer, and Azure Developer Associate. He now works as an
integration architect, focusing on cloud integration and helping organizations
and customers build robust and reliable middleware solutions.
He has also worked on many crucial projects for banking and healthcare-
based customers, including ICICI Bank and Obamacare.
