How is skill building for Sharepoint different from ASP.NET?

Question

How much of ASP.NET or C# is required for Sharepoint development? Do you need experience with things like developing N layered web applications, design patterns, test driven development, strong SQL background etc?

I hear that Sharepoint development is different from enterprise applications thats typically built with technologies like ASP.NET.

If I know my basics in .NET, C# and have some experience with ASP.NET and have good understanding of things like Page lifecycle in webforms, web parts, Master pages etc, then am I ready for Sharepoint?

Also, is Infopath very heavily used in Sharepoint development?

Answer 1

It really depends on what you are wanting to achive, there are more than a few ways to develop something for SharePoint each requires different skills.

for example : SharePoint exposes a number of webservices which you can use to complete a number of tasks. A step up from that Sharepoint has a number of DLL's you can reference directly in order to access a more granular level of detail, but is more fiddly to work with.

Neither of these require any knowledge of ASP.NET but both work with sharepoint.

If you are planning on making a WebPart then yes ASP.NET knowlege is a big plus. If you want to work with the Sharepoint workflows then you need knowlege of WF.

There is no one fit for developing sharepoint, which quite frankly makes it hard to hire people for it.

Answer 2

If you already know ASP.NET than you are ready for SharePoint development. Get familiar with its SDK and other development concepts. SharePoint Dev Wiki might also be a good start.

A must have for new developers is to learn SharePoint from end user perspective. I am using this book to train the new guys. If you do not understand these concepts it might be hard to start coding.

Answer 3

I guess it really depends on what you mean by SharePoint development. In my humble opinion you must learn what SharePoint provides out of the box in order not to reinvent the wheel all over again. The object model, web services and how to deploy your work using solutions is something you have to pick up very quickly in order to be a good SharePoint developer.

As I am more of a consultant type when a developer I can't say whether you should know SQL and AD but I guess it won't hurt a bit. If you are fluent in C# it might also be a good idea to have a closer look at PowerShell as it sure looks like Microsoft will integrate PowerShell in all server products including SharePoint 2010.

Answer 4

I don't think it's much different, really. I've been learning both at the same time to some success. Of course, ASP.NET and SharePoint are just different things, but SharePoint is built on ASP.NET, so to the extent you understand ASP.NET, you also understand SharePoint.