Last week, DevFacto Academy hosted SharePoint MVP Andrew Connell for his ‘Mastering the SharePoint Framework Course’ in Edmonton. This 4-day course walked our team through building and deploying custom code using the new SharePoint Framework which was introduced to SharePoint Online and SharePoint 2016.
What is the SharePoint Framework?
“The SharePoint Framework (SPFx) is a page and part model that enables client-side development for building SharePoint experiences. It facilitates easy integration with the SharePoint data, and provides support for open source tooling development.” -Microsoft
Today, SPFx enables developers to create client-side web parts and deploy them to SharePoint Online. It can also be thought of as a way to reliably package and deploy client-side customizations that were previously done with the content editor or script editor web parts.
Additionally, it is equipped with a new set of tools and features that—when coupled with the working knowledge of how to apply them—ensure a rich SharePoint environment geared towards facilitating an amazing user experience.
What did we learn?
- SharePoint development is no longer just SharePoint development; it’s now web development with access to the SharePoint API.
- How to create a content delivery network (CDN) in SharePoint O365 and deploy apps.
- How to create and deploy a client-side web part with the SharePoint Framework.
- How to use the SharePoint Workbench to test web parts without deploying to SharePoint.
- The importance of adding tests to the components we develop, allowing us to develop reliable code.
- How to leverage external and internal libraries (JS & CSS) in client-side web parts.
- How to create custom property panes for client-side web parts.
- Logging and debugging techniques.
- SO MUCH MORE!
We are grateful to have had the opportunity to learn about the new SharePoint framework with the best, from the best. Thank you again to Andrew Connell for teaching us all about the future of SharePoint development.
About Andrew Connell
Andrew Connell is a full stack web developer with a focus on Microsoft Azure & Office 365, specifically the Office 365 APIs, SharePoint Server, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft’s .NET Framework, Angular and Node.js. With over ten years of technical training and education experience, Andrew is an accomplished presenter and instructor. His unique ability to break down complex concepts into easy-to-consume information will help you grasp the new SharePoint Framework and stay on the cutting edge of development technologies.
About DevFacto Academy
At DevFacto, we aspire to not only have a technically strong and relevant team but to also build up the strength of the development community around us. DevFacto Academy is our foray into bringing top notch training to our own team as well as to the community at large. We develop and coordinate training opportunities such as community group speakers, technical workshops and learning retreats. We also develop and coordinate private training opportunities for client teams.