Learning SharePoint MOSS at 2.5 Weeks - Perspective of an ASP.Net guy

Some observations about SharePoint and MOSS after working to master it for 2 1/2 weeks. By the way, I have as yet, not mastered it.

  1. Find the blogs and forums for SharePoint and MOSS.
    • You will get more information quicker here than any other method.
  2. Consider yourself a network administrator, not just an ASP.Net developer.
    • A lot of your previous experience will come through but there is a lot of pointing and clicking to configure and review bits and pieces of the application.
    • Further on this point, I have found more TechNet articles that actually helped me than MSDN articles.
  3. Be selective in the books you purchase
    • I was recommended by a colleague to look into the admin side first, not the programming side.
    • Another colleague recommended the SharePoint 2007 Administrators Companion for that purpose and this is going well but slowly.
  4. Slow and steady wins the race
    • This technology is huge. According to the book, there are 27 separate technologies wrapped in this package so expect that you'll only learn a few of them at the outset.
    • Along this same line, don't expect to even understand exactly how all these technologies play nice together for a while. The changes in terminology between the 2003 and 2007 products have not been applied across the board.
      • For instance, there is still a lot of info out there about "Virtual Servers" in SharePoint. It took me days to realize that a these are the same thing as "Applications" in 2007.
  5. Consider using real-world examples to learn.
    • These are far more helpful than walking the tutorials since they involve a bit more thought than the typical hello world style versions. You'll find some good example problems in the forums.
  6. MSDN failed MOSS
    • I'm a fan of SandCastle and documentation in general and I believe that developers are responsible for it usually. So why are there so many MSDN items in the SharePoint object model that have only the inheritance tree and data types? I don't understand why there would be so little real documentation about this flagship product online. Even Google comes up short more often than not.
    • If you really want to see where MSDN comes up short, try looking up the web services in MSDN. According to the 'page not found' message, they are available in Brazil, Japan and Spain but not here. Right.
    • Keep in mind that I've only been on this path for 2.5 weeks so it could also be that I'm not asking the right questions...

Wish me luck, I'm going back in...

3 Comments

  • I am about 2.5 weeks behind you - Any chance for some of the links you have found useful?

  • I'm about 4 months into the SharePoint thing and agree with what you have written.

    I'd recommend getting Pattison's book. It is head and shoulders above anything else out there from what I have seen provided you are coming from a development (not networking) background. He even explains a lot of the nomenclature mixups.

  • I assume from doing an Amazon search you're talking about "Inside Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0" ISBN: 0735623201. I'll put it on my wish list. Thanks! Currently, the Bill English book is all I can handle. At 1/3 of the way through, it has provided me with a lot of knowledge as to where things go in the mix.

    In the end, the guys in my shop said to learn the admin side as much as possible first and the dev stuff woulf fit in better.

    Gook luck in month 5!!

    JJ

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