The SharePoint Developer's Bookshelf

Everyone has their own style when it comes to learning new-to-them software products. Many of the best learn by doing, but others have more of a “read first, play later” style. For those of us who love our hard copies, here are reviews of a few popular books about SharePoint.

1. Beginning Sharepoint Designer 2010


Written by: Bryan Phillips, Asif Rehmani, Marcy Kellar, and Wodrow W. Windischman

Material covered: Using SharePoint Designer in an enterprise, creating and modifying web pages, using CSS editing tools to customize themes, using Data View, and integrating with Visual Studio, Visio, and InfoPath.

What people are saying: Reviews over all seem to be very positive. Readers appreciate how this book, true to it’s title, makes SharePoint more accessible to beginners, and the fact that it covers the program in fair depth at the same time. One review mentioned that the editing could be better--a common problem with of-the-moment tech books.


2. Professional SharePoint 2010 Administration


Written by: Todd Klindt, Shane Young, and Steve Caravajal

Material covered: This is an in-depth guidebook. It walks you through everything from installation of the new 2010 software, to the changed features of the new release, to architecture planning and disaster recovery.

What people are saying: This book seems to be exceptionally popular with readers. They praise the comprehensive coverage, the clear explanations, and the useful walk-throughs. If you’re going to own one book on SharePoint Administration, this might be it.



3. InfoPath with Sharepoint 2010 How-To

Written by: Steven Mann

Material Covered: Mostly, how to solve issues in SharePoint using InfoPath. It offers “over 140 solutions and scenarios”--that is, it describes scenarios and offers potential solutions to them. Basically, this is a great way to expand your toolbox for finding solutions to your SharePoint issues.

What people are saying: Readers love how concise this is. It is unusual to find a software writer who prefers to be engaging instead of comprehensive; in this case, that strategy seems to have paid off. Additionally, reviewers think many of the tutorials are particularly good.