SharePoint 2010 - Project Items Inside Visual Studio

In this article we can closely examine the SharePoint Project items and related topics. I believe that the previous article regarding installation of SharePoint Tools for Visual Studio 2010 is completed successfully.

We can see the following Project Items inside Visual Studio under the node SharePoint:


 
Each of the Project Items are described below.
 
Empty SharePoint Project
 
This is a template whose contents are common to all other templates.
 
It includes all the references needed for SharePoint development.


 
This template contains the Features and Package files needed for deployment.


 
Sequential and State Machine Workflow
 
Sequential Workflow refers to a series of business logic steps performed in sequence. State Machine Wofkflows are not performed in sequence, but carried out by actions and events. The workflow templates contain the items to create Sequential and State Machine Workflows. We can create site-level or global workflows through these templates.


 
Site Definition
 
This project contains a site definition folder which includes the default aspx page for the site, site component file, site configuration file etc.
 
List Definition
 
This project template contains the List templates. It includes content type, list templates, event receivers etc.
 
Modules
 
The module template is used to include the manifest xml file and the notes about a project. It is not the Module concept in Visual Basic.
 
Visual Web Part
 
We can create Web Part using the designer inside Visual Studio. This project template contains support of Visual Web Parts.
 
Content Type
 
Content Types are information on data. For example a Task can be declared as a Content Type. Later a Task can be used inside a List.
 
Apart from the custom properties, we need to explore the other topics related to SharePoint development using Visual Studio.
 
Sandboxed Solutions
 
A Sandboxed Solution is a new concept in SharePoint Foundation that allows the users to upload their own code solutions. The Sandboxed Solutions are viewable and validated by Administrators through the Solutions Gallery.
 
The Solutions Gallery can be accessed from Site Actions > Site Settings > Solutions.


 
We can view the resource usage of solutions and manage the quota from the Solutions Gallery.



References
 
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee231554.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee539083.aspx
 
Summary
 
In this article we have explored the Project Items inside Visual Studio and had an overview of the various aspects of SharePoint development. In the upcoming articles we can jump into coding solutions for SharePoint 2010.