Top 7 Easy Steps to Become a SharePoint Developer

Microsoft Sharepoint is a web-based collaboration and content management platform developed by Microsoft. Sharepoint has a significant role in the world of digital business today. And thus, SharePoint developers are in high demand. But to hire SharePoint developers who are well versed with it is the main task. It is mainly used as a document management and storage system, but it is highly configurable, so its use varies according to organizations. The number of SharePoint developers is little, and the need is huge. So it is the right time to develop the skill in Sharepoint. Here are a few steps:

Develop excellent problem-solving skills

It is a skill every developer should have, but in the case of SharePoint, it is even more important. The main reason being the number of SharePoint developers are too small, so there are fewer people out there solving the issues. The scope and size of Sharepoint is so large that there are a lot of unexplored areas, even undocumented ones. So your problem-solving skills will be what that will help you.

Make sure you are having access to the SharePoint environment.

The main advantage of having full access to SharePoint is that you can learn better. You can make mistakes and learn from them. You can find solutions to the mistakes you have made and become better at it.

Next is the security issue. If you have full access to SharePoint, that means you can access all the accounts and test the workflow you have created. Otherwise, you can know the workflow, which makes it difficult. Sharepoint development becomes a difficult task then.

Start with real-life problems.

Solving real-life business problems improves your exposure in Sharepoint environments as the solutions to these issues can get tricky. So by solving these issues, you get a more clear idea about the platform. It can come handy when you deal with workplace issues. You will be able to design better workflows then.

Get used to SharePoint User Interface.

To be well versed with SharePoint means you know how to use all the User Interface components that are available in the platform. Expert SharePoint developers can utilize it to the maximum to find answers. Some of the User Interface components are The Ribbon, SharePoint site actions, list views, forms, layout pages, web parts, the ECB and so on. The knowledge about where to use these and how-to will help in providing a unique SharePoint workflow. A SharePoint consultant will always go for developers who can play with UI components efficiently.

Learn.Net

Another important quality a SharePoint developer must have is a good knowledge of.Net. Whatever you do on SharePoint will have a significant amount of.Net integration in it. So it is advisable to have good knowledge about.Net. It is not just coding but also knowing its internals is important. The one important thing is deploying an assembly to SharePoint. It is a complex process. So to master various ways of deploying, debugging, and troubleshooting is vital. So make sure you are an expert in.Net inside out.

Find a mentor

Learning SharePoint is a bit complex and time-consuming. Sharepoint development is not an easy skill to have. Documentation and blogs can help. But to get proper training or understanding of the entire platform, it is important to have a mentor or a network of colleagues. So you will have a trusted source to find out the solutions to the problems that you face while learning SharePoint. So make sure you have the right people or experienced personnel with you. It can help your learning a lot and can make the process a lot more simple.

Try to find solutions rather than customizing.

In SharePoint, it is easy to find answers without coding a single line or by not even launching visual studio. But the problem here is that there is no source code associated with this which makes it difficult to modify the work. You will have to rebuild the solution once it is broken.

A professional SharePoint developer will make sure to create the solutions by launching the visual studio and through proper coding. And it will make sure the code is reusable and can be properly deployed.

Sharepoint development is not a cakewalk; you have to put in a lot of effort. But once you are a Sharepoint expert, it is guaranteed that your professional skills have reached another level.

Natalia Jane is a freelance app developer in India. She loves to read a lot. She is really passionate about her coding skills.