Start developing for SharePoint by avoiding common pitfalls.

1. Getting Started
Developing For
SharePoint
Getting Started Developing For
SharePoint Online
10 Common Pitfalls – Getting it Right by Doing it
Wrong

2. #SPRUNNERS
@rbethleh
About me
roelhans.bethlehem@rapidcircle.com

3. 1. Assuming SharePoint Online and
SharePoint 2013 are the same thing
• Assumptions isthe mother of all screwups
• There is no book for this….
• You are only a tenant
Model On-Premises SharePoint Online Remark
Full trust Yes No
Sandbox Solution Yes Yes Deprecated for runtime
code
Client Side Object Model Yes Yes Provider Hosted apps /
Azure Hosted apps
Javascript Object Model Yes Yes SharePoint Hosted Apps
REST API Yes Yes

4. Countermeasures
• Get a SharePoint Online tenant
• Get the SharePoint Development Tools
• Limited support in VS Studio 2010
• Get more tools from Apps for Office and SharePoint Dev Center
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/apps/fp123627.aspx
• Start in Visual Studio with sandbox solution
• Read Software Boundaries for SharePoint Online
• http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/office365-sharepoint-online-enterprise-
help/sharepoint-online-software-boundaries-and-limits-HA102694293.aspx

5. 2. Not having DTAP for SharePoint
Online
• Why do you not do the same as you would in a normal project?
• Okay for first version, do you really want to fiddle in the live
environment?

6. Countermeasures
• Start on your own box for development
• If you cannot run SharePoint 2013 on your own laptop; use Azure VMs or
CloudShare
• You have direct access to the logs for troubleshooting on-premises
• Create T, A and P in Office 365
• Go to: http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/business/
• Free 30 day trial
• Make sure you choose the right subscription!
• Create sitecollection per build strategy

7. 3. No automation of deployment
• Microsoft gave us 700+ cmdlets for SharePoint On-Premises, we got
27 for SharePoint Online
• So how do we automate deployment in 4 different environment, one
being on premises

8. Countermeasures
• Create a build script
• You can roll your own cmdlets
• Sponlinecmdlets.codeplex.com

9. 4. Forgetting about content
• What is a SharePoint site without content?
• So why not put it in the build
• Variant of: not enough automation

10. Countermeasures
• If you want demo content: http://www.microsoftofficedemos.com/
• Great for demos and practice
• If you want your own content:
• Automate with Powershell as much as you can, we are in the business of
automation

11. 5. Disregarding Sandbox Solutions
• So Sandbox Solutions are deprecated, really?
• Caused quite a lot of talk in my team

12. Countermeasures
• See: SharePoint Sandbox isn't Dead...UserCode is
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/richard_dizeregas_blog/archive/2013/08/0
1/sharepoint-sandbox-isn-t-dead-usercode-is.aspx
• Keep using declarative model
• Examples: contenttypes, sitecolumns, listtemplates, modules that deploy
css, javascript, render templates
• Stay away from Sandbox Solution that runs code unless you have a
very good reason
• Examples: feature receivers, webparts

13. 6. Everything is an app
• Do you drink the Kool Aid?

14. Countermeasures
• Use scriptparts; its a webpart that contains just script
• Use SharePoint hosted apps for simple UI orientated webparts if you
can
• Azure Apps or Provider Hosted apps mean you now have two
problems (eh clouds)
• Debugging apps can be superhard due to security model and browser
restrictions (cross domain policy)

15. 7. Javascript? What is that? Isn’t that
Java?
• Your skills on the server side won’t get you anywhere in SharePoint
Online

16. Countermeasures
• Read Douglas Crockford: JavaScript the good parts
• Practice Practice Practice

17. 8. Trusting Search behaves the same as
On-Premises
• Well Search was kind of half finished
• Keep looking for Contigious Indexing, Content By Search Webpart and
missing refiners (People Search)

18. Countermeasures
• Sorry you are out of luck here – waiting game
• Use lists in Appweb to store data as in a cache so you do not need to
make roundtrips

19. 9. Social is expected
• So Yammer versus SharePoint Newsfeeds

20. Countermeasures
• If you drink the KoolAid: Get a cup of Yammer
• Its in the microsoftofficedemos.com
• If you do not have Yammer or do not want to use it, you can still go
for Newsfeeds

21. 10. My Site customization
• No stapling
• Personal managed path

22. Countermeasures
• Shared can be branded just like any site
• Everything under personal cannot
• No feature stapling as this requires access to the filesystem / you are
only a tenant

23. Practice, Test, Practice
Assumption is the mother…