Suggested SharePoint Development Standards

Assembly Development:

• The assembly file name should follow this format:
• [Customer].[Supplier Name].[Solution name].dll
• example: Adventureworks.JSolutions.Branding.dll
• The assembly version number should be as the solution version number.
• Use the .Net XML commenting system                       
  (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/b2s063f7.aspx)
• Use the standard naming conventions as defined by Microsoft   (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/xzf533w0.aspx)
• Follow Microsoft’s best practices for SharePoint development (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd458798.aspx)
• Follow Microsoft’s security guidelines for ASP.NET development (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms998258.aspx)

 

File Headers:

• In the top section of each file (code, xml, aspx, etc) supply the following information:
• Company name and copy rights
• Author name
• File
• Purpose
• Create Date

Custom Configuration:
Config File:

• When possible try to not store custom settings in the web.config file. Use a separate file on CONFIG folder.
• File name should follow this format:
• [Customer]_[Supplier Name]_[Solution name]_Configuration.config example:Adventureworks_JSolutions_Branding_Configuration.config
• Entries to web.config keys must be communicated beforehand to the customer.
• Entries to web.config (user names or passwords) must be encrypted.
• Entries to the web.config should be inside a block of comment which contains the solution name and description.

Property Bag:

• Should be used for storing only primitive types.
• If the values are user-defined, provide a web interface to edit those properties from custom actions on central administration on each property scope.

Features:

• Ensure that each feature GUID is unique in the farm.
• Ensure that each feature folder name and title should follow this format:
• [Customer].[Supplier Name].[Solution name].[Feature Name]
• example: Adventureworks.JSolutions.Branding.HideLinks
• Ensure that all the features has a appropriate name, description, updated version number and icon.
• Features with event receivers should clean up all changes created in activation as part of the deactivation routines. If the feature creates a list that contains user data, the feature should not delete this list.
• Farm and Web Application features should never be hidden.
• Site Collection and Site features should be hidden.

Solution (WSP):

• Ensure that new solutions have a unique GUID in the Farm
• Ensure that the new solution version number is incremented (format V#.#.#)
• Solution naming convention must be descriptive: 
• [Client Name].[Supplier Name].[Solution or module name]_[Version number].wsp                                       
• example: Adventureworks.JSolutions.Branding_v1.0.0.wsp
• In case of an update solution action is required for installation,solution name must not be  changed. 
• The solution package should not include any of SharePoint installed files.
• Referenced assemblies should not be set to copy local = 'true'.
• All prerequisites must be communicated to the customer and pre-installed as stand-alone components for easier administration.

 Tools for Building the Solution:

• Use WSPBuilder for creating SharePoint Solutions.
• Use CAML Query Builder tool to generate CAML queries used in the source code.
• Use SharePoint Designer 2007 to create master pages, page layouts, style sheets.

Tools for Quality Assurance:

• Use FXCop for identifying and fixing performance and security issues in source code.
• Use the CAT.NET to help identify security issues in the solution source code.
• Use StyleCop to identify code style and naming conventions issues. 
• Use the SPDisposeCheck tool

Source Control:

• All source code must be under a proper source control (like TFS or SVN).
• All internal builds must have proper labels on source control.
• All releases have proper labels on source control.

Quality Assurance:

• If you use the MVP pattern, create unit tests for each unit of your solution.
• Follow Microsoft’s best practices for SharePoint development (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa973248.aspx)
• Run FXCop, CAT.NET, StyleCop and SPDisposeChecker on all code.
• Follow Microsoft’s security guidelines for ASP.NET development (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms998258.aspx)

Release to Customer:

• Provide an Installation Guide which contains the following items:
• Solution name and version number.
• Targeted environments for installation.
• Software and hardware Prerequisites: explicitly describes what is all needed updates, activities, configurations, packages, etc. that should be installed or performed before the package installation.
• Deployment steps: Detailed steps to deploy or retract the package.
• Deployment validation: How to validate that the package is deployed successfully.
• Describe all impacted scopes in the deployment environment and the type of impact.

Enjoy !!!