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CEM Practice K-Talk
Introduction to Visual Studio LightSwitch
Shehan Peruma | 05-April-2016
Tw i t t e r : @ S h e h a n P e r u m a

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Agenda
1 2 3LightSwitch Architecture SharePoint
4 5Demos Questions

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LightSwitch?

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LightSwitch!
L i g h t S w i t c h : A s i mplified development env ironment
wi thin Vi s ual S t udi o t o bui ld busi ness a pplications qui ckly.
• Focus on business logic – all the technology decisions along with coding is
taken care of
• Applications are built on a classic three-tier architecture: client,
service/business and data storage
• Build applications for Mobile Web, Desktop & SharePoint (HTML 5 &
Silverlight)
• Available from Visual Studio 2010. However, HTML 5 support is from VS 2012
Update 2 onwards.

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LightSwitch Architecture Overview
ServiceMiddleTier
Submit
Pipeline
Queries
Data Workspace
WCF Data Service
DataStorageTier
ClientTier
Methods ControlsScreens
Data Workspace
WCF Data Service

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Overview – Data Storage Tier
• Utilizes ADO.NET Entity Framework to connect to SQL
Server
• WCF Data Services is used to access SharePoint data via
OData protocol
• Ability to understand relationships between tables
(including SharePoint lists)
• Utilizes LocalDB to create tables from within the IDE

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Overview – Service Tier
• Primary job of this layer is data access and processing
• Hosted in an ASP.NET application; Runs on IIS or on Azure
website
• Contains the business logic code (written in managed code
– c#/vb.net)
• A data service is created for each data source and is
exposed via OData endpoint (WCF service)
• Using the service endpoints, entities can be operated on
(i.e. CRUD operations)

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Overview – Client Tier (HTML)
• Implemented as a “Single Page Application”
• “Mobile First” – Built to run on all modern mobile devices
& tablets
• Utilizes jQuery & jQuery Mobile under the hood
• The jQuery Mobile ThemeRoller can be utilized to change
the color scheme of the
• Availability of a JavaScript API to access and modify
entities and screens
• Simple and consistent “design” interface to build screens
• Ability to override layout & look-and-feel of the screen
and controls via regular JavaScript, CSS and HTML
• Communication between the middle layer is via Odata
• JavaScript intellisense is available
• Coding is limited to front-end scripting (i.e. no managed
code)

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DEMO

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Building SharePoint Apps
• SharePoint needs to be “enabled” via the project
properties screen
• SharePoint hosted apps are not supported
• SharePoint Online does not support Autohosted apps
• Deploying/Publishing of apps is built-in

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DEMO

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Resources
• Pluralsight - Visual Studio LightSwitch 2012 and 2013
http://app.pluralsight.com/courses/visual-studio-lightswitch2012
• Pluralsight - Building Line of Business Applications with Visual Studio LightSwitch 2015
http://app.pluralsight.com/courses/visual-studio-lightswitch-2015-lob-apps
• Pluralsight - Rapid Application Prototyping with SharePoint and LightSwitch
http://app.pluralsight.com/courses/rapid-application-prototyping-sharepoint-lightswitch
• LightSwitch Apps for SharePoint
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj969620.aspx

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© 2016 Virtusa Corporation. All rights reserved. VirtusaPolaris and all other related logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks
of Virtusa Corporation in the United States, the European Union, and/or India. All other company and service names are the property of
their respective holders and may be registered trademarks or trademarks in the United States and/or other countries.
Shehan Peruma
Sr. Architect – CEM | SharePoint
aperuma@virtusapolaris.comThank you