SharePoint 2013 Features

Developer Features

Between Business Connectivity Services, Client-Side Object Model (CSOM) and the new Apps for SharePoint, developers will have a lot more aspects of SharePoint 2013 to dive into.

Client-Side Object Model

SharePoint Apps

Business Connectivity

Client Object Model Features

Client Object Model screenshot

SharePoint 2013 uses CSOM to join with Business Connectivity Services and deliver better access to your data than ever before. The CSOM interacts with SharePoint via web service calls and has three types of client object models: one for .Net applications, one for Silverlight applications, and one for mobile applications. In addition to these APIs, there is also a JavaScript object model and new REST/OData endpoints which allow you to build several types of applications using your language and platform of choice. Your Windows development experience will usually dictate when you use the REST endpoints rather than a SharePoint object model.

New Version of APIs Has Added Support For:

  • Search
  • User Profiles
  • Taxonomies
  • Publishing
  • Feeds
  • Sharing
  • Workflow
  • E-Discovery
  • IRM
  • Analytics
  • BCS

SharePoint Apps Features

SharePoint Apps screenshot

The Apps are here! SharePoint 2013 brings a new approach to Sandboxed Solutions as they’ve been replaced in SharePoint 2013 with 'SharePoint Apps'. SharePoint apps have more powerful capabilities than Sandboxed Solutions such as the ability to utilize cross site collection data, have unique locked down permissions, and are built with familiar languages and IDE's. SharePoint Developers are already digging in and creating custom apps to improve their solutions and benefit others.

Benefits of SharePoint 2013 Apps Include:

  • The App doesn't affect the SharePoint farm performance (though may flood the farm with client side object model calls)
  • Developers can package and distribute their SharePoint Apps on the new Microsoft App store which works with On-premises SharePoint, Hosted SharePoint (Fpweb.net), or the Microsoft Cloud (Office 365)
  • SharePoint Apps can be hosted in an isolated SharePoint Site, isolated server, or even on Windows Azure
  • Server side code is not possible for Apps (farm solutions are required here)
  • SharePoint Apps rely on OAuth 2.0

Business Connectivity Features

Business Connectivity screenshot

Business Connectivity Services allows SharePoint developers to hook into external line-of-business (LOB) data for SharePoint integration. BCS is the step needed in SharePoint 2013 to connect external systems to a central system and make it easier to create solutions that can benefit your business. SharePoint 2013 has extended this service to include a new Eventing (event handler) framework, OData as a supported data source, support for SharePoint apps, External list performance improvements, and a new client side object model (CSOM) API.

Benefits of the Business Connectivity Services Include:

  • The Eventing framework allows external notifications and alerts on external lists.
  • BCS allows offline use for your external data and processes.
  • Main performance improvements include data source filtering, sorting and ability to export to Excel.
  • Deploy app scoped BDC models instead of just farm-scoped.