Scot Hillier - Microsoft SharePoint 2013 App Development

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With the release of SharePoint 2013, Microsoft has dramatically changed the rules for SharePoint developers. The introduction of the new app development model is intended to essentially eliminate the development of full-trust and sandboxed solutions for SharePoint. Although both of these solution types are still available in SharePoint 2013, the message from Microsoft is clear: all new SharePoint development should be done by using the app model.

We cover the reasons for this seismic shift in detail in , so we wont repeat them here. However, the SharePoint community will probably be left with many questions about the future even after understanding Microsofts logic. Certainly, the most important questions revolve around whether organizations will actually accept the primacy of the app model. Most SharePoint installations are on-premises farms with significant investment in custom full-trust solutions. These solutions take the form of Web Parts, workflows, application pages, event handlers, and so on that perform significant custom processing. Clearly, organizations cannot abandon these investments overnight. On the other hand, no one can deny the momentum pressuring organizations to move more functionality into the cloud where the full-trust model simply does not work effectively.

For developers, the situation is both intriguing and concerning. Many SharePoint developersthe authors of this book includedhave spent a decade mastering the intricacies of the full-trust model. Now, we find ourselves faced with the reality that a portion of this knowledge might be in jeopardy. Even though all the expertise surrounding SharePoint infrastructure, architecture, and declarative processing is still useful, the app model forbids the use of the server-side object model, which has been the bread and butter of SharePoint developers for more than ten years.

On the positive side, the app model opens up new and exciting possibilities for development. Cloud-based apps allow for scenarios that were difficult or impossible to create in previous versions of SharePoint. Developers now have client-side access to every major workload in SharePoint through the client-side object model and REST, which means that SharePoint 2013 fits perfectly into cloud-based and cross-platform development models. Additionally, SharePoint developers now have access to a marketplace to sell their applications to Microsoft Office 365 users.

Although this book cant answer all of the adoption questions the community will face, it can certainly help you to get started in app development. There are many new skills for you to learn including advanced JavaScript patterns, OAuth security, and cloud-based development models. If you are like the hundreds of Microsoft employees and partners we have already taught, youll find yourself reacting with a mix of excitement, joy, denial, and frustration. We look forward to working through it with you and the rest of the SharePoint community.