It is important for a developer to set up a SharePoint environment when attempting to do SharePoint development. Being a massive software with many elements, SharePoint is not easy to manage, thus SharePoint developers need all the best practices to succeed. Developing SharePoint solutions could involve a large number of related aspects.
With SharePoint development, a design pattern approach is important. The design pattern is not only for implementation of code but also solves real life problems. The most common design patterns for the platform include the Repository, Model-View-Presenter, The Trusted Façade Pattern and Service Locator. SharePoint makes it easy to synchronize, store and share important content. A lot of SharePoint developers walk through the SharePoint environment unaware of the unfamiliar and interesting journey of discovery that awaits them. Often, it is hard to determine where to start.
Many developers not known about strange and interesting journey of discovery they’re about to begin. The following are some of the vital factors of the SharePoint platform that developers should learn.
1. It is vital to get to know one’s editions for when looking for solutions because there are times when a developer could come across those that are edition specific.
2. Looking at the database is discouraged because of two good reasons. First, Microsoft is very touch with regards to database and would not support any installation with software that modifies the SharePoint database. Second, the structured could give a lot of headaches.
3. It is important to have a good understanding of the front-end. It would give a good feel for a website design and thus what kind of layout users would want to see. Most of the actions done in a code would correlate to actions in the front-end and the structure as well.
4. Some SharePoint objects would not dispose automatically by themselves when no longer used. Disposing objects is the solution for this. However, it is not always advisable to dispose these objects all the time.
5. With the huge amount of SharePoint-specific terminology, which some could be misleading and inconsistent, learning the language is of vital importance.
6. A good book or reference is definitely more useful compared to a huge glossary when it comes to getting to know the SharePoint components. It is of utmost importance then to get an overview of all the components to avoid reinventing the wheel inadvertently.
7. A developer should find a suitable SharePoint Community to help expand SharePoint knowledge in general.
8. Learning to live with CAML or Collaborative Application Markup Language is another important factor. It affirms that flexibility is priority over usability.
9. It is important for a SharePoint developer to keep in mind that the platform is enormous. Moreover, it is a mind boggling framework with dark sides that even some SharePoint development teams have not checked out in years.
Every developer should also keep in mind that there is a lot to learn with the platform and some things one could never know. Having a good overview of the SharePoint components is essential. The various customizable components also means there is almost always more than a single solution to a problem. The first challenge with SharePoint is in discovering the presence of all the items that a developer does not understand yet. As soon as a developer gets a vague idea of all the components, then it is time to begin learning what each and every component is all about.
