Have you ever wanted to develop for Microsoft Office 365? The good news is that developing in this environment has recently become accessible to far more people, since the new Microsoft CEO recently decided to open up the ecosystem.
Now, thanks to this change in strategy, an Office 365 developer can create Office add-ins in their preferred language – whether that’s Python, Java or JavaScript.
This is an exciting development, to be sure. But before you jump headfirst into developing new add-ins, there are a few things you need to consider. So read on to learn the six key points you can’t afford to overlook as an Office 365 developer.
1. Understand How Azure Active Directory Works
Microsoft Office 365 combines multiple products/services into a single subscription based offering and it relies on Azure Active directory to manage user authorization and access tokens. So when we sign up for Office 365 subscription, Microsoft provisions Azure Active Directory for each tenant which stores vital information such as access tokens and permissions.
When you develop for Office 365, you need to understand how Azure Active Directory works, as well as how you can integrate with it to manage identities and access.
Need help integrating Office 365 and Microsoft Azure? Click here for information on our Microsoft Azure consulting and deployment services.
2. Get to Know Microsoft Graph APIs
Microsoft is working hard to provide developers with an effective and consistent Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which allows developers easily interact with different services under Office 365, including Mail, Calendar, Groups, Notes, OneDrive files etc.
Once you understand Azure Active Directory, your next step is to develop a clear grasp of Microsoft Graph API. A clear understanding of the various Microsoft Graph APIs is highly desirable. Not all functionalities are available right now under Microsoft Graph APIs. In that case developers need to understand individual service (like Mail, Calendar, Groups, Notes) APIs.
3. Can You Use Microsoft SDKs to Help You?
To help you get started with developing for Office 365, Microsoft has provided a range of handy Software Development Kits (SDKs) on their website dev.office.com. You don’t have to use these kits to develop for Office 365, but they can be a great starting point to help you to work efficiently with Microsoft Graph APIs and individual Office 365 services APIs, particularly if you’re new to developing in the Office 365 environment.
4. Choose Your Development Tool Carefully
Selecting the right development tool used to be easy, as Visual Studio was the obvious choice for developers working on the Microsoft stack.
The opening up of the Office 365 environment presents developers with a much wider range of options, including Sublime, Brackets and other suitable tools. This is great news, because it means you can use a tool that you are familiar with and that you feel comfortable using for your development.
5. Consider Distribution
Once you have developed your Office 365 add-in, you need to distribute it to users. Microsoft provides two options for distribution: the Office Store and SharePoint Add-In Catalog. If your add-ins are targeted at SharePoint users, you can set up an add-in catalog on SharePoint to make them available. If you’d rather make your add-ins available via the Office Store, that’s also an option. But first you’ll need to register as an app developer and wait for Microsoft to approve your account and also the Add-Ins that intent to release.
6. Review the Documentation
Developing in a new environment is always tricky at first, but there’s no need to panic if you run into problems. The documentation available at dev.office.com is extremely useful for helping new developers get started, so don’t forget to check out the resources here if you get stuck.
Final Thought
Some Office 365 products like Outlook/Mail have huge numbers of users. This large audience means that Office 365 can be an incredibly lucrative platform for developers. Sure, it takes a little time to get started with developing for Office 365, but stick with it and you’re likely to find that your efforts pay off.
