Latest Development topics
All the latest Development pages on this site.
This category is for general client-side & server-side development topics.
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Blog: SharePoint 2016, 2019 & SharePoint Online: Which Version of the SharePoint Framework Should You Install?
Customers can leverage the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) in any of the modern or recent SharePoint versions. This includes SharePoint Online & SharePoint on-premises versions SharePoint Server 2016 & SharePoint Server 2019. To build a SPFx project, you use the Yeoman generator for the SharePoint Framework to create your project and get started. But there seems to be some confusion on which version you should install depending on your target SharePoint environment. Let’s clear this up, once and for all.
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Blog: Stop Using Internet Explorer 11
It’s long past time we as an industry stop using Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) and get more aggressive in dropping support for it.- Published on
Blog: Jest Preset Update October 2019
Late last year I published a few Jest presets to simplify adding automated testing to your SharePoint Framework (SPFx) projects. These are complete with example tests including testing the rendering of components, testing async functions using promises or callbacks and even simulating user events. You can learn more about the presets in the original post, Enable Jest testing of SharePoint Framework Projects in One Simple Step. In this post, I want to share some updates to the presets that have been published.
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Blog: Dealing with Undefined 'this' in React Event Handlers in a Performant Way
When I’m teaching React to developers, one thing that comes up often is dealing with a common error. But here’s the interesting thing: it’s not running into the error that comes up all the time, its how to deal with it that surprises them. I’ve always wanted to have something to point to that the scenario & why one option is better than others, even though there are plenty of ways to address the issue. That’s what this post is!
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Blog: Automate Building, Testing and Deploying SharePoint Framework Projects with Azure Pipelines in Four Steps
In just four simple steps, this post will show you how to automate the build, test & deployment to SharePoint Online of any SharePoint Framework project using Azure Pipelines. I guarantee you can have it done before your coffee is ready! Seriously… go get the pot going and come back to this post.
DevOps is all the rage these days. Developers throw it in resumes left and right & the recruiters are always searching for someone who can check that box. But what’s funny is like every other hot term these days, people use the term for everything.
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Blog: The Good, Bad & the Ugly: Using Angular Elements with the SharePoint Framework
In this series, I showed you how to build custom elements, a native web technology supported natively by most browsers (except you Edge & IE…) and presented two options for how you can go about it. One option involves using one big project with the SharePoint Framework & Angular in it while the other utilizes two projects to mitigate the downsides of the one-project approach. So, you can now use Angular in SharePoint Framework projects and this is made possible by Angular Elements which was introduced in Angular v6 back in May 2017. Sweet! We’ve got the “can you do it” question answered! But, should you do it? There are always tradeoffs when picking a web framework for your next project and using one with the SharePoint Framework is no different. Let’s take a step back and look at the whole picture. Only then can you decide if it makes sense for you.- Published on
Blog: Using Angular Elements in SharePoint Framework Projects
This has been a long time coming and many of you Angular developers who also work with the SharePoint Framework may have given up by now and switched to React, but for those of you who have been holding out, Angular is finally a viable option for SPFx development even with a few drawbacks.- Published on
Blog: SharePoint Framework v1.8.2 (and v1.8.1) - What's in the Latest Release
Earlier this week, on Tuesday, May 7, 2019, Microsoft released v1.8.2 of the SharePoint Framework (SPFx). A little over a month ago, I wrote about the v1.8.0 release. Since then we had another minor release (v1.8.1) released on April 16, 2019.
In this post, I’ll summarize what you can find, and share some additional details I found after spending some time picking apart the last two minor releases.
A new SharePoint Framework Yeoman generator has been published by OfficeDev: 1.8.2 #SPFx Office365
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Blog: Mastering the SharePoint Framework - Sprint 16 adds SPFx with Teams, SPA's and Tons of Updates
I’m excited to share this latest update to my course, Mastering the SharePoint Framework for developers. This update, packaged as sprint 16, includes one new chapter and a LOT of updates. When I originally planned out sprint 16, I intended to record a lot of new content. However when the SPFx v1.8.0 release came out there were enough changes to SPFx that I decided to go back and update the course, including adding some new lessons, completely re-recording existing lessons and updating quite a few lessons (both video & notes).- Published on
Blog: SharePoint Framework v1.8.0 - What's in the Latest Release
In this post, I’ll summarize what you can find, and share some additional details I found after spending some time picking apart this latest release of SPFx.- Published on
Blog: Leverage Custom Permissions in Entra ID Applications
In my last post, Securing an Azure Function App with Entra ID - Works with SharePoint Framework!, I showed how you can secure a REST API deployed as an Azure Function App using Microsoft Entra ID. This comes in quite handy when you want to secure some custom server-side business logic that’’s called from a SharePoint Framework (SPFx) client-side solution. The SPFx docs show how to use APIs with permissions to the Microsoft Graph. This post will explain how to add custom permissions to the AzureAD application that is used to secure your Azure Function.- Published on
Blog: Securing an Azure Function App with Entra ID - Works with SharePoint Framework!
I recently published a new chapter in my Mastering the SharePoint Framework on-demand course for developers that included a section that showed how to call a REST API deployed using an Azure Function App and secured with Entra ID from the SharePoint Framework. When I was working on this chapter, it felt like the process of configuring an Azure Function App to be secured with Entra ID was harder and more complex than it should have been. Specifically, some of the things you do aren’t explained as well… so I decided to blog about it here!- Published on
Blog: Beware of Declarative Permissions in SharePoint Framework Projects
Developers can declare permissions in SharePoint Framework projects, but it isn’t a good idea. In this article I explain why and suggest a better approach.- Published on
Blog: Mastering the SharePoint Framework Sprint 13 Published with over 3hrs of Microsoft Graph & Entra ID Lessons!
I’m excited to share this latest update to my course, Mastering the SharePoint Framework for developers. Today’s update, packaged as sprint 13, includes two new chapters and a few updates… and it’s a huge release… the biggest yet adding over 3 hours of new content!
Sprint 13 also marks a milestone: the Fundamentals Bundle of the course is now content complete! This means all planned chapters are now published. I will continue to make edits to existing chapters updating content when circumstances warrant, but at this time no new chapters or lessons are planned.
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Blog: Enable Jest testing of SharePoint Framework projects in one simple step
Setting up projects to use Jest, especially to test the rendering of your ReactJS SharePoint Framework projects & use the popular tool Enzyme for testing rendering, isn’t a trivial task, until now!- Published on
Blog: Testing SPFx Projects Efficiently with Minimal Distractions: Wallaby.js
Learn what I use and how I configure my SharePoint Framework projects to continuously run my unit tests efficiently and minimize distractions so I can focus.- Published on
Blog: Package Manager Inconsistencies with React & tslint + Workarounds after Updating to SPFx 1.7
The latest version of the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) released a few weeks ago, v1.7.0, uncovered a few issues between how the various Node.js package managers work. These issues appear to be rooted in the package tslint and came about with a change in how Microsoft was using tslint under the covers from SPFx v1.6 to v1.7.
A fix has been submitted to tslint, but they appear to be lagging on their release schedule so there’s no ETA on when it will get rolled out.
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Blog: SharePoint Framework v1.7.0 - What's in the Latest Release
In this post, I’ll summarize what you can find, and share some additional details I found after spending some time picking apart this latest release of SPFx.- Published on
Blog: Don't freak out by vulnerabilities after running npm install
I have seen questions since the folks at npm added an automatic scan for vulnerabilities after every npm install. In my opinion you shouldn’t be alarmed.- Published on
Blog: Mastering the SharePoint Framework - Course Update September 2018 (Sprint-11 complete)
This month’s update on my Mastering the SharePoint Framework course features the transition from one sprint to the next.
Sprint 11 Complete
Earlier this week, I published the final pieces of Sprint 11. Two new chapters, the first chapters in the Ultimate Bundle! I also hosted the first Facebook Live sprint release party this week… if you missed it, you can get access to the recording here: Voitanos @ Facebook Live
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Blog: HowTo: Angular Elements in SharePoint Framework Projects - Two Projects
In my last post, I talked about using Angular Elements in SharePoint Framework projects. That post showed how to do this using a single SharePoint Framework Project. In this post, I show you a much better option that uses two projects.- Published on
Blog: HowTo: Angular Elements in SharePoint Framework Projects - One Big Project
In my last post, I talked about using Angular Elements in SharePoint Framework projects. When doing this, you have two options on how you will implement this and in this post, I will talk about doing it in one big project that includes everything. In tomorrow’s post, I’ll show you a much better option that uses two projects.- Published on
Blog: Mastering the SharePoint Framework - Course Update July 2018 (Sprint-10 complete)
In this post, learn what’s new with our flagship course, Mastering the SharePoint Framework, in Sprint 10, and what’s coming in Sprint 11!- Published on
Blog: npm, Yarn and PNPM: Which Package Manager Should You Use for SharePoint Framework Projects?
In the past, I’ve written how I prefer Yarn over npm not just for SharePoint Framework (SPFx) projects, but also for all my Node.js based projects that leverage the npm package registry: https://www.npmjs.org. I wrote that post in December 2016 and things have changed quite a bit since then. Last week Microsoft released SPFx v1.5.0 & the associated Yeoman generator that added support for changing the package manager the generator ran after creating the project scaffolding. Even without this new
--package-manager
switch introduced in v1.5.0, the SPFx generator had the command line switch--skip-install
that we could add, telling it to not run the package install step, thus allowing us to run our own package manager.- Published on
Blog: SharePoint Framework Generator Updated to v1.5.0: Inspecting the Changes
Yesterday Microsoft released a new version of the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) generator to version 1.5. I took some time picking apart the update and in this post, I will show you what these changes have in store for you.- Published on
Blog: SharePoint Framework Updates from May 2018
Over the last month of May, we’ve seen quite a few announcements from Microsoft with respect to what’s new and coming related to the SharePoint Framework (SPFx). This news has come out in part at the Microsoft Build 2018 conference in Seattle, WA and the SharePoint Conference North America 2018 in Las Vegas. Some of these things are available today while others are coming soon or in the next few months.
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Blog: Avoid the Office UI Fabric JavaScript Package - Its Bad.
Citing issues with the Office UI Fabric JavaScript project, I advise against its use and recommend exploring alternative options.- Published on
Blog: State Of SharePoint Development Survey - Share Your Thoughts!
A few months ago, we partnered up with Rencore on their third annual State of SharePoint and Office 365 customizations survey. The point of this survey was to learn and share how customers were customizing SharePoint & Office 365.
Today, continuing our partnership, I’m launching the first annual comprehensive State of SharePoint Development survey. This survey is for developers with the goal of obtaining and sharing the technical state of SharePoint developers around the world. The findings of this survey will then be summarized into a report that provides valuable insights.
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Blog: State of SharePoint & Office 365 Customizations 2018 Survey
Ever wonder how your organization compares with other organizations in the same space? Have you sat at your desk and thought “I wonder if the challenges we are facing are the same as what others in the industry are facing?”
Now is your chance to find out!
I’m teaming up with Rencore this year to co-host two surveys.
State of SharePoint & Office 365 Customizations 2018 Survey
In this first survey by Rencore, you can share some information about your organization (anonymously of course) and learn how your organization compares to others in the industry on topics such as:
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Blog: Mastering SPFx Course January 2018 Update - Two New Chapters Published
Learn what’s new in the January 2018 update of our flagship course, Mastering the SharePoint Framework, including two new chapters!- Published on
Blog: Angular, React or Vue - What's the best for the SharePoint Framework (SPFx)?
Many developers picking up the SharePoint Framework are coming from a traditional SharePoint development background. Some of these people server-side developers primarily who may have some client-side development experience while others may have been customizing SharePoint using client-side development techniques for a while.
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Blog: Solve the SharePoint Framework + Angular Challenge with Angular 5.0 Elements
Last week at the European SharePoint Conference 2017 (ESPC) in Dublin, Ireland, Rob Wormald presented on a new tech being added to the core of Angular that I think will make Angular much more approachable and useful to so many developers. Unfortunately, this session wasn’t recorded nor did I have the opportunity to attend due to co-chairing another conference in Orlando at the same time. I am familiar with the topic though as I’ve been assisting the Angular team in understanding SharePoint & the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) over the last few months. Over that time, I’ve become sold on this approach, not just for SPFx, but for Angular as a whole! In this post, I want to explain how this works.- Published on
Blog: What's up with Angular (v2.x / v4.x) and the SharePoint Framework?
This post is long, LONG overdue. I’ve explained this multiple times over email & in person to SharePoint Framework developers. It’s about time I have something to point to… so here’s my take on the SharePoint Framework + Angular [v2.0 / v4.0 / v+] state of things.
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Blog: Latest News for the SharePoint Framework: Extensions RC!
In the most recent SharePoint Patterns & Practices - JavaScript Special Interest Group meeting, Microsoft shared some news on the SharePoint Framework. The news fell into three buckets:
- Recent Updates
- Update on SPFx Modern UI Extensions
- SharePoint Framework Engineering Backlog
Recent Updates
The big news that in the last few weeks Microsoft introduced a new, and often requested, feature for SPFx: **tenant-scoped deployment for SPFx client-side web parts and extensions. This means addins or extensions can be deployed to all sites within your tenant just a single time!
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Blog: SharePoint Framework v1.1.1 - Sign of On-Prem SPFx to Come?
In the recent SharePoint Framework (SPFx) generator updates in v1.1.1, are we starting to see hints of on-prem SPFx support coming soon?- Published on
Blog: Creating and Trusting Self-Signed Certs on MacOS and Chrome
In this post, I’ll explain how to create a self-signed certificate configure Chrome on your macOS to trust it for local development.- Published on
Blog: Modern JSLink, Custom Actions and More coming to the SharePoint Framework
Today Microsoft announced new updates coming to the SharePoint Framework ahead of their sessions at the Build Conference. In a blog post, Build integrated user experiences with new capabilities of SharePoint and OneDrive, they talked about four big additions that engineering is working on and will make it into a new developer preview of the SharePoint Framework by the end of May 2017.
This week in the Microsoft Cloud Show podcast episode’s special coverage for the Build conference, CJ & AC sat down with Microsoft’s Vesa Juvonen about these new features and more. Check it out in Episode 193 | Vesa Juvonen on New SharePoint Framework Capabilities Announced at Build!So… what’s new you ask? Some of these things were teased up a bit in the last SharePoint JavaScript/SPFx PnP SIG meeting that I covered in a previous blog post.
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Blog: Early May 2017 SharePoint Framework Updates
In last week’s SharePoint Framework & JavaScript Special Interest Group meeting, Microsoft’s Vesa Juvonen shared what’s the engineering team at Microsoft is working on and more!
Updated SharePoint Framework Yeoman Generator
In early April, Microsoft quietly shipped two updates to the Yeoman generator for the SharePoint Framework, @microsoft/generator-sharepoint. The latest version is v1.0.2. The updates were fairly minor… I recently blogged about what you will find in the updates and how I figured out what the updates were as they aren’t well documented: SharePoint Framework Generator Updated to v1.0.2.
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Blog: Customizing your iTerm prompt on MacOS for Productivity
In my post, I point out that SharePoint Framework development involves new build tools and Node.js, which traditional developers find interesting.- Published on
Blog: SharePoint Framework Generator Updated to v1.0.2
Did you know the SharePoint team at Microsoft updated the Yeoman generator, @microsoft/generator-sharepoint, twice in the last month? Yeah… I didn’t either until yesterday.
The final version was released on February 23, 2017, as version 1.0.0. They then slipped two more updates in early April in quick succession as versions 1.0.1 & 1.0.2. Unfortunately, Microsoft still hasn’t published the repo for the generator or made the homepage for it in the NPMJS registry of any use… just some boilerplate copy… so it’s not easy to figure out what’s changed.
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Blog: Multiple Node.js Versions with Node Version Manager (NVM)
Learn how using a node version manager (NVM) is a fantastic tool for developers who rely on Node.js… including SharePoint Framework (SPFx) developers!- Published on
Blog: Followup to my "Building Client-Side Web Parts with the SharePoint Framework" Rencore Webinar
This article is a follow-up to my recent webinar on “Building Client-Side Web Parts with the SharePoint Framework (SPFx)” with Rencore.- Published on
Blog: Troubleshooting and Fixing the "Out of the Blue, My SharePoint Framework Projects Won't Build!"
Earlier this week I presented a session at the Atlanta SharePoint User Group on Building Client Side Web Parts with the SharePoint Framework. I had my session planned well in advance, out but wanted to build the demos while they were fresh in my head. Last week I was out of work mode with my family relaxing on a beach in Mexico for Spring Break, so I planned to do build my demos yesterday morning, on Sunday. While we were supposed to return home Saturday night, we missed our international connection and got stuck overnight, not making it home until about 12pm EDT Sunday.
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Blog: Generally Available: SharePoint Framework (v1.0)
Yesterday Microsoft announced that the SharePoint Framework has reached the Generally Available milestone. That means we’re at v1! The development tools have been updated to v1 and the v1 bits are rolling out to Office 365 SharePoint Online tenants now. Microsoft said it will take about a week or so for it to reach all Office 365 tenancies.
You can get the details of this update from their wiki page in the main sp-dev-docs repo. So what change from RC0 to GA?
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Blog: What the SharePoint Framework means to Users
Last week I was in New Orleans presenting at the Nintex InspireX conference on building apps using the microservice approach with containers and Docker. During that week I sat down with Jeremy Thake of Hyperfish to talk about the SharePoint Framework and what it means for end users of SharePoint.
During this discussion we discussed:
- what is the new SharePoint Framework
- how the SharePoint Framework will effect the SharePoint user experience
- some tips on how to keep up with the SharePoint Framework
You can listen to the whole discussion on the Hypefish podcast.
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Blog: What's Next for the SharePoint Framework?
If you are a SharePoint developer doing any work in SharePoint Online and you have held out on taking a look at the SharePoint Framework, now is a good time to start taking a look. We are currently at the release candidate 0 (RC0) and in the coming weeks, we can expect to see the generally available (GA) release. This release will support client-side web parts as Microsoft wanted to make sure they got that capability perfected… but they won’t stop there!
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Blog: Following up to my "Introducing the SharePoint Framework Webinar" with LightningTools
This article is a follow-up to my recent webinar on “Introducing the SharePoint Framework (SPFx)” with LightningTools I delivered.- Published on
Blog: Better JS Testing Experience with VS Code and Wallaby.js
Speed up your JavaScript testing in VSCode with Wallaby.js. Wallaby.js automatically runs your tests and see the results without leaving your code files!- Published on
Blog: Debugging Node.js projects with TypeScript and VS Code
In this article, learn how you can debug Node.js projects, written in TypeScript, using VS Code’s native capabilities.- Published on
Blog: Node.js, TypeScript & building to different folders
In this post, I explain how I set up my Node.js projects, written in TypeScript. I’ll share how I build to different folders.