profile

The Full Stack Dev's Microsoft 365 Playbook

by Andrew Connell

Andrew, a 19-year recipient of Microsoft's MVP award, helps full-stack developers efficiently build Microsoft 365 apps through pragmatic mentoring and self-paced courses. Join 8,000+ developers and receive his bi-weekly newsletter filled with insights on Microsoft 365 and Azure topics.

Featured Post

Cost Conundrum: Teams Apps Can Outweigh Power Apps in Long-Term Value

Over the past year, I’ve had tons of conversations with developers about Microsoft Teams app development. I’ve spoken to: independent consultants developers employed by consultancies that work for multiple clients corporate developers building apps for their organizations They all have varying experiences with Microsoft Teams app development and Microsoft 365 app development: Some are experienced with Microsoft Teams app development, while others have no experience Some are seasoned...
Read now
4 days ago • 1 min read
Beyond Power Apps: Discover the Benefits of Teams Apps

[Voitanos Black Friday] 📣 Get ready for our biggest annual promotion next week! 🎉

Every November, I try to come up with a unique annual promotion to prepare developers for the new year. Like previous years, is that time of year to share my annual promotion on special deals on my courses for full-stack Microsoft 365 developers! Next Friday, November 24, at 10 AM EST, I’ll open the store with deals of up to 40% off my self-paced courses AND an opportunity to join the next cohort of my new Microsoft Teams App Dev Accelerator program before it sells out (limited seats...
18 days ago • 2 min read

Should your next Microsoft 365 app be a SPFx web part, SPA, or Teams app?

Recently, one of my newsletter readers, Adrian, posed an interesting question. He asked how to decide between building a SharePoint Framework (SPFx) web part, a full-page web part like a single-page app (SPA), and a tab inside Microsoft Teams. This could be a personal app, a channel app, or a Power App. This is an excellent question to cover in this week’s newsletter! I always start by looking at who the target audience is for the app. Where do they spend their time & what is the vision for...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read

Explore the Code Sharing Dilemma in SharePoint Framework (SPFx) Projects

In this week’s newsletter, I’ll dive into the challenge many SharePoint Framework (SPFx) developers when it comes to code sharing across multiple projects. Duplicating code can lead to maintenance and performance issues, making it crucial to find the right solution. Discover two options for externalizing code and sharing it across projects, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. I provide an in-depth analysis of the unique aspects related to SPFx solutions and explore the challenge...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read

SPFx Developers: Beware of the SharePoint SE 23H2 Feature Update 😱

It’s October and Halloween is just a few weeks away, but why wait to get scared? Are you ready for a spine-chilling tale that will leave you both curious and fearful? I’ve got a story to share about the recent update to SharePoint Server Subscription Edition (SP SE) in the 23H2 feature update. Brace yourself as I share the scary truths: a downgraded SharePoint Framework (SPFx) version included in this update! 😱 A downgrade??? That's not a good scenario for developers who have already upgraded...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Unboxing the SharePoint Framework v1.18 Release

📦 Unboxing the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) v1.18 Release

This week's newsletter about the latest SharePoint Framework release is timely. Why? This month marks my 20 year anniversary of being in the SharePoint space. Yup... September 2003 I got put on a project as the lead developer to relaunch our company's intranet. Just think, that path led me to your inbox 20 years later! 🤣 Microsoft released the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) v1.18 on September 12, 2023. This release features one significant change among other updates such as core dependency...
2 months ago • 1 min read

Newsletter Reboot: The Full Stack Developer's Microsoft 365 Playbook

In March of this year, I made a promise to myself to be more deliberate with this newsletter. I wanted it to have a consistent publishing schedule and be a resource, rather than just a way to share news and updates about my course offerings and promotions. So, for the past five months, I have been publishing a new issue of my newsletter with insights and news every other Tuesday like clockwork. This issue marks a milestone for a couple of different reasons. I'm happy with this consistency and...
3 months ago • 5 min read

Crack the Code: Testing 🧪 Solutions for Microsoft 365 Projects

A few weeks ago, I posted two surveys (on LinkedIn & on Twitter/X), asking Microsoft 365 developers why they don’t implement automated testing in their Microsoft 365 development projects. Survey results on testing Microsoft 365 projects The survey asked developers about their experience and thoughts on incorporating testing in their Microsoft 365 projects, including the SharePoint Framework (SPFx), Microsoft Teams, and building Microsoft 365 apps… and the responses were mostly what I...
3 months ago • 1 min read

Unlock 🔓 the Power of Testing 🧪 Microsoft 365 Apps

Over the past few weeks, I have made several changes and upgrades to a critical project. Thanks to the implementation of automated testing early on, this process has not been as stressful as you might expect. Automated testing allowed me to make changes, quickly identify any issues, and fix them. When I talk about automated testing with friends or at conferences, I find that developers love the promise of it, but many do not implement it for various reasons. It's a lot like exercising 👉 those...
4 months ago • 1 min read

Simplify and Optimize Your React Code with Hooks

Most React developers use React Hooks to create React apps, as evidenced by documentation, examples, and videos on YouTube. However, this is not the case in the Microsoft 365 development space, where SharePoint Framework (SPFx) developers still primarily use class components. This is likely due to new SPFx projects defaulting to class components, which have been one of the last holdouts. Even new Microsoft Teams projects created with YO Teams in the Visual Studio Teams Toolkit use Hooks....
4 months ago • 1 min read
Share this page
Built with ConvertKit