Written by One year later, I am one happy SuiteScript 2.0 developer who would never go back to SuiteScript 1.0.
When SuiteScript 2.0 was announced way back in 2015, I was doubting the benefits it would give me as a NetSuite Developer.
I was full of excuses.
I thought I didn’t have enough time to study it. It felt like I didn’t need to upgrade because SuiteScript 1.0 seemed enough. I was pretty comfortable coding SuiteScript 1.0 as I had been since 2012.
This changed when I got assigned in a project for a large NetSuite customer who was undergoing NetSuite implementation and, you guessed it, chose to implement SuiteScript projects in 2.0.
I didn’t have a choice. I learned through self-study.
One year later, I am one happy SuiteScript 2.0 developer who would never go back to SuiteScript 1.0.
Truth be told, SuiteScript 2.0 is not perfect. There are still capabilities that are not supported by SuiteScript 2.0 that can be done in SuiteScript 1.0. However, this should not defer you from switching. NetSuite’s SuiteScript Team has done huge improvements to this version ever since its realease and it keeps changing for the better.
See, I worked with SuiteSript 1.0 for four years before SuiteScript 2.0 came into my life. Heck, I would say, I’m staying with 2.0 for a lot of reasons:
1) SuiteScript 2.0 has its advantages over SuiteScript 1.0
I know, it is the most obvious but the most important reason. Not switching makes you miss a lot of things. It’s like you going to an amusement park without trying all the fun rides.
Modularity
In SuiteScript 2.0, everything is modular. It comes with a complete set of new APIs, contained within modules. When you want to see the APIs related to Record Processing, you can just look up “N/record”, for example and you will see the methods under this module. Whenever working on the script that you have done before, you could create a library file and reference it easily on your new script.
Complexity Management
This is convenient especially for those who are developing their own SuiteApps which requires thousands of lines of code and so many files. With its complexity management, you can easily reference all your library files and custom modules within each script file and call the functions that you would need for a specific run.
Automatic Dependency Management
In SuiteScript 2.0, you can define which modules you want to run, and the dependecy loading is done via the system. What’s great about this benefit is that it allows you to focus more on your code’s logic rather than worrying about the dependencies of the modules you’re loading.
Modern Programming Syntax and Behavior
One benefit of the SuiteScript’s modern syntax is its decreased learning curve for experienced developers. The syntax is straightforward JavaScript. And the best thing about it is it’s developed in a way that it supports third-party JavaScript APIs – which gives more room for flexibility to your code’s functionality!
For more information about these benefits, check out this Help Guide article.
2.) SuiteScript 2.0 will land you more job opportunities.
Knowing SuiteScript 2.0 will always be appealing and a plus. Some NetSuite customers and partners require SuiteScript 2.0 as a skill from a candidate, hence all the more reason you should start the transition now. Some hire because they have a lot of projects that require converting their SuiteScript 1.0 project to SuiteScript 2.0. If you are already a SuiteScript 2.0 Developer, you already have an edge in the NetSuite Development market.
3.) Learning SuiteScript 2.0 will pay off in long-term.
It’s like an investment basket where the earlier you start investing things there, the better the returns. An example would be code reusability. See, there’s a version cohabitation rule where you cannot reference a SuiteScript 2.0 script in SuiteScript 1.0 or vice versa. If you start writing scripts in 2.0 now, you will be able to start building your own library of codes that you can reuse for your projects to come.
4) NetSuite is advocating it.
After its launch, we’ve heard messages from NetSuite employees advocating to learn SuiteScript 2.0. We’ve seen campaigns from the NetSuite User Group and NetSuite Education Services inviting all the developers to start learning to code in 2.0. NetSuite is really encouraging developers to start the transition now.
5) There’s a possibility that SuiteScript 1.0 will get deprecated soon.
This is not to scare you. It’s the reality. We’ve seen it happen a few times. There are some NetSuite features being deprecated because a new and better feature or product gets introduced. NetSuite stopped supporting smbXML as it’s being replaced by CSV Import and SOAP Web Services. Some CRMSDK tags are being deprecated in email templates because scriptable templates are introduced. Recently, NetSuite Outlook is being deprecated and users are encouraged to switch to Celigo CloudExtend Outlook for NetSuite. There is a possibility, though no official announcements have been made, that SuiteScript 1.0 will become deprecated in the coming years.
6) There’s certainly a list of benefits you’re missing out on while you’re not coding in SuiteScript 2.0:
SuiteScript 2.0 has a lot of features that are not available in its 1.0 counterpart. Processing records via multiple keys? That’s available in a Map/Reduce script. Downloading and uploading files via SFTP? That’s an available module in 2.0. Using promises? Yes, it’s possible in 2.0. Below you will see the complete list of those features:
- Map/Reduce Script Type
- Asynchronous Client Side Processing (Promises)
- SFTP File Transfer API
- Cache API
- Search Pagination API
- Flat File Streaming API
- Expanded Support for HTTP Content Type Headers
- New Encryption/Encoding Functionality
- The N/query Module
See, I get often asked during client meetings and interviews, “Which SuiteScript version do you prefer, 1.0 or 2.0?”.
For the reasons stated, I always answered, “Definitely 2.0!”
For more SuiteScript 2.0 articles, go to this page.
Anything I missed in the list? Would love to hear it from a fellow NetSuite Developer! Please comment below with your thoughts!
LEACC Consulting is a team of NetSuite Certified Developers with IT experience solely dedicated to NetSuite technologies for eight years. We are experts in both SuiteScript 2.0 and SuiteScript 1.0. Our team has worked with 400+ NetSuite scripts and workflows combined. If you need some consulting help of how you can design your NetSuite scripts better, contact us by filling out this form or by commenting below.
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