The Middle Tier Manifesto: An Alternative Approach to Development with Microsoft SharePoint
For some time now, I’ve felt the need to set down my thoughts on the power of development in the Middle Tier for SharePoint. Today, I’m publishing the first edition of my white paper The Middle Tier Manifesto: An Alternative Approach to Development with Microsoft SharePoint. I say ‘first edition’ because the days of spending a lot of money to print a white paper and distribute it widely are long gone. I expect to and want to develop these ideas over time based on input from you, the SharePoint community.
In this white paper, I lay out the methods and rationale for preferring to develop for SharePoint using SharePoint Designer and a combination of the Data View Web Part, scripting, and CSS over managed code. For quite a long time this is where I’ve focused my development efforts for clients and was part of the genesis for the jQuery Library for SharePoint Web Services (SPServices). I find that developing in the Middle Tier using SharePoint Designer can be faster, more reliable, and cheaper than the managed code approach.
I expect that some of you may well disagree with this premise and I know that others will absolutely agree with it; I welcome the debate. Take a read of the white paper and let me know what you think.
Thanks to Michael Greene (@webdes03) and Jim Bob Howard (@jbhoward) for their input on early drafts.
@Marc: I’ll join my voice to the crowd to say that “Middle Tier” is not a good terminology. Maybe it perfectly expresses what you have in mind, but it’s too late, the name is already taken, and using it for another purpose is confusing.
@Todd: I am afraid you’re following the same bias – or is it Microsoft? “Personalization” has a meaning: the act of changing an option of a multi-user software product to change the product’s behavior or style for one user (source: wiktionary). Displaying a view of project tasks on the home page is customization, displaying “My Tasks” is personalization.
Christophe:
Unfortunately, the Middle Tier term has left the barn and is alive and healthy out on the ranch. Lots of people use the term now, and everyone seems to understand exactly what they mean. Many words in the English language already mean something more than their original definition. In this case the ambiguity doesn’t seem to be getting in the way.
M.
Mark:
It is being adopted because you are evangelizing it. Your position is allowing you to have some traction with your movement. Thing is if you were to stop putting this effort in, the concept would go away.
SharePoint Solution Provider:
That’s an interesting theory, but I really don’t think that’s the case. I see people writing about the Middle Tier all over the place these days, and most of those people have never heard of me. It’s a way of working that people needed a name for. Now there is one. Whatever small impact I have would continue to be there from people like Jim Bob Howard and many others.
M.
I agree with SharePoint Solution Provider, as far as I know this is not being avangelized by Microsoft and I my experience, it confuses clients trying to implement SharePoint. I have been talking with a lot of clients lately that say they need a developer and then start talking about SharePoint Desinger and InfoPath. Now I see where they are getting these ideas.
Marc, do you have anything from Microsoft regarding this “movement” or is it just something comming from the community? If it is coming from the community only, are these folks like Jim Bob Howard at least an MVP for SharePoint or have some kind of authority to put out this view point?
Dan:
Well, I’m an MVP, if that matters. Microsoft hasn’t ever acknowledged my work on this or things like SPServices in any official way. The truth is, though, that it’s a set of development techniques that a huge number of people are using whether Microsoft ever says it’s a good idea or not. It works, it gets things done, and it solves business problems.
M.
Marc, I’d love to believe you, but Google thinks otherwise…
Bing has it wrong too…
http://www.bing.com/search?q=Middle+Tier+&go=&form=QBLH&qs=n&sk=&sc=2-12