Introduction To SharePoint Framework

SharePoint Framework is also abbreviated as SPFx. SharePoint Framework offers modern technologies, Node-based development, TypeScript etc. that are applied to SharePoint and Office 365 development.

Earlier, we used to create web-parts (rectangular boxes with defined functionality) and even business users knew what web-parts are. In SharePoint Framework, these web-parts are termed as Client web-parts. From a technology perspective, they are quite different, but from a user perspective, they are the same rectangular widgets that the users can add on their pages. In addition, we know about Add-In model and the Iframe-based integration, which we used in our daily SharePoint development.

History of SharePoint Development

1. Farm Solutions
   The development in SharePoint started with Farm Solutions, WSPs, full trust code. This approach was very powerful and developers could literally do whatever they wanted to do on the SharePoint Farm. However, it made upgrades very difficult and it made maintaining and keeping the environment secure very difficult.
2. Sandbox Solutions
   A box in which code cannot run outside the boundary of the box.
3. Add-Ins (App Model)This has been introduced in SharePoint 2013 and Office 365. It is based on Iframe-based integration. This approach also has many disadvantages.
4. Script InjectionUsing Content Editor and Script Editor web-parts. With this approach, we can almost everything on a SharePoint page; however, this is not the best-recommended approach from Microsoft.
5. No-script capabilityA tenant wide setting which removes all content editor web-part and scripts from the page.
6. SharePoint FrameworkIt is a custom and supported way from Microsoft, to allow to embed code inside SharePoint sites.

Click here to know steps to setup