SharePoint 2010 - Starting Programming

In this article we can start with the programming part of SharePoint 2010. Through programming we are able to get more control and flexibility over SharePoint. We can use Visual Studio to do the programming part with the support of the SharePoint server side object model library.

Some of the advantages gained through programming SharePoint are:

• Server Object Model to Iterate over Lists and Libraries
• Content Type Creation
• Web Part Creation
• WorkFlow Creation
• Assembly Signing
• Business Data Connectivity Model Creation
• Site Definition Creation
• Automated Backup and Restore

Visual Studio

Here we are using Visual Studio 2010 to work with SharePoint 2010. You can use a 32 bit or 64 bit version of Visual Studio 2010.

Visual Studio 2010 Tools for SharePoint Development

After the Visual Studio 2010 is ready, you need to install the following component to start with:

• Visual Studio 2010 Tools for SharePoint

This tool helps with custom templates, automatic web part deployment to SharePoint server and other integration facilities.

Download

You can download the tool from the following link:

http://sharepointdevtools.codeplex.com/

According to the documentation the tool provides extensions to four core areas:

1. Environment
2. Exploration
3. Templates
4. Deployment

After installing the tool, start a New Project in Visual Studio and you will be able to see the following SharePoint project category:

To begin, select the Empty SharePoint Project template and click the Ok button. The following site dialog box will be prompted:

Enter your site URL; leave the other options unchanged and click the Finish button.

Now the Solution Explorer will look like below:



Try building the project and if the build succeeds your Visual Studio is ready for SharePoint 2010 development. We can explore the programming areas in the upcoming articles.

References

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ee309510.aspx

Summary

In this article we have explored the programming part of SharePoint 2010. Using Visual Studio we can gain control over the SharePoint sites and features. In the upcoming articles we can play around with the object model and features.