The Universal Code initiative

4. The word “initiative” suggests that this is a good practice encouraged in the development community. In this specific case, Microsoft has made this encouragement even more attractive by adding a fee to on-premises extensions that are not adhering to this restrictive cloud scope. Writing universal code extensions means writing code targeted for ubiquitous deployment types: cloud and on-premises. A synonym of universal code is cloud-optimized.

   The main benefits that drive this initiative are:

1. Standardizes a common partner development target with a cloud-first approach.
2. New or existing customers could purchase the same AppSource extension, without the need for any extra legacy dependency.
3. Faster upgrades, updates, and cloud migrations.
4. Efficiently uptakes the latest and greatest Microsoft technologies.
5. Replaces outdated and old-fashioned partner programs like the Registered Solution Program (RSP)...