On being a "SharePoint" expert

Recently Rocky had one of his many pearls of wisdom, that of the software development world becoming a specialization due to the complexity of the industry. Let me tell you that a) I agree with Rocky 100% (and more if anyone could agree more than 100%) and b) this is true especially so for SharePoint developers and 2007 (the version, not the year).

Actually, let me quantify that. What is a SharePoint developer? Is it a ASP.NET developer who knows a lot about the SharePoint API or is it a SharePoint developer who knows a lot about the ASP.NET API? The answer is yes.

Take me for example, I really didn't do a lot of ASP.NET development (about a year or so since B1) so other than little apps, the odd web service, etc. I really didn't have an in-depth experience being an ASP.NET developer. When I got the SharePoint itch I scratched it with what little COM+, ASP and structured development techniques I knew (we're talking back in STS and SPS 2001 days, before the .NET version). With v2 and 2003 came .NET and more knowledge of how IIS worked, ASP.NET server controls and all that goodness. Now here's 2007 and we're dealing with ASP.NET 2.0, security and membership providers, master pages, user controls, workflow, and a million other little tips, tricks and gadgets that would drive anyone batty.

It's just too much for any one brain to handle (except maybe Hanselman, but we all know he's not human anyways). And there's more to come! Upgrading from ASP.NET 1.1 to 2.0 was a huge shift for SharePoint (in fact a complete flip of the architecture, literally) but moving to 3.0/3.5 isn't going to be that much of a big deal. It's just a different version of the API, a set of new dlls, some Atlas thrown in. Basically a service pack, not a full blown release. With that will come all kinds of things. How about LINQ for SharePoint? We already have people writing PowerShell servlets that will treat SharePoint sites as folders you can navigate, so querying a SharePoint list shouldn't be any more difficult than using LINQ to query a list of objects.

The future is here and moving fast. Being a SharePoint expert isn't just about knowing all the technologies, layers, and tiers that encompasses SharePoint because frankly that's not realistic. SharePoint is just another layer in the stack, another tool in the toolbox, for us "developers" to work with. Whether we choose to weigh more heavily on the SharePoint API or the ASP.NET one, it's just a matter of what we're trying to accomplish. Being a SharePoint expert is about knowing what's available and making use of it, and getting the guys who really know this stuff inside and out to build it for you (or if you're that guy, build that part yourself).

I think gone are the days where being a SharePoint expert meant you knew every nut and bolt of every piece of the machine. Today, you're lucky if you can get your head wrapped around one part of it.

Published Monday, March 12, 2007 7:06 PM by Bil Simser
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Comments

# re: On being a "SharePoint" expert

Tuesday, March 13, 2007 10:13 AM by Dave Mann

Bill,

Couldn't agree more (more than 100%?).  SP 2007 is such a beast that I can't see anyone being an "expert" at all of it - especially not this early in the game.  I've been working with the silly thing since Dogfood4 and I KNOW I don't know it all.  Tack all of the changes in ASP.Net 2.0 AND the 3.0 Framework onto that and the problem is just compounded.  The trick, and you touched lightly on this, is that to be a "SharePoint expert" you need to know the breadth of the tools (SP, ASP.Net, Workflow, etc) to know what to use where, and you need to then have depth in a few areas.  That depth is what will grow with  time and experience.  The breadth is what lets you figure out which pieces to use for a particular project and when you need to either pick up some depth or else call in someone who is already there.

That is the strength I see in the SP community.  All of the people who have depth in certain areas who share that knowledge help everyone else who is not an expert in that particular area.  Everyone takes a small step forward by sharing what they know.

-Dave

# re: On being a "SharePoint" expert

Monday, March 26, 2007 3:27 PM by Lorne Rogers

I concur, but would suggest that 2 certifications would be appropriate:  A SharePoint Developer cert, and a SharePoint Admin cert.

Since Bil is an MVP, and Medhat (Bil knows who this is, says I can suggest this, it should be forwarded through MS.  I, for one, would certainly be interested in a SharePoint specific admin cert.

# re: On being a "SharePoint" expert

Wednesday, March 28, 2007 1:52 PM by relishguy

Hey Bill:

I have been mucking with the OM since late 2003. I am a total Sharepoint bigot. But I can tell you that (even in the new version) the developer documentation has been consistently incomplete.

Most of us just use lots of blogs (including yours of course), but there are and have been lots of methods/properties that have no description and no examples.

So I guess it just comes down to what it always is for developers: use your imagination (about how this or that class might work).

Just my $0.02!

# re: On being a "SharePoint" expert

Friday, April 06, 2007 4:49 PM by Dodge

Certifications?  You gotta be kiddin me...  Like the other gentleprogrammer said, how about some documentation first.  That would be a good thing to start with.  Maybe some real good documentation on how to make things work and connect better, some real world examples, a few lines of sharepoint and linq used in the same environment, mashups of xml, sql and anything else you can throw at it via linq, and so on.  Shove your certs right up your wazoo!  I'm sick of working around or finding bugs I have to deal with and at the same time, having to take some cert to be recognized by Msoft, who is too busy to fix the bugs or post workarounds so we don't have to pull our hair out doing it and keep up with the newest for the next cert.  Gimme a frickin break dude!