Single-page applications (SPAs) are nothing new on the Web. However, like Responsive Web Design (RWD), SPAs have gained favor as a way to enable real work with an improved user experience (UX). SPAs first started popping up regularly in creative contexts on public Web sites. These sites have been out there for a while and are becoming more prevalent. Since the idea with SPAs is that one need not leave the single page to accomplish some high percentage of the tasks at hand, it’s a great concept to apply in a SharePoint context. The days where a clunky postback-ridden application was acceptable is fading into the rear view mirror. It’s all about Getting Work Done as effectively and painlessly as possible. We’ll look at an SPA example taken from Marc’s popular blog series on building SPAs in SharePoint and discuss successful approaches and pitfalls in doing so.

1. Marc D Anderson
Single-Page Applications (SPAs)
in SharePoint Using SPServices

2. Who Is Marc?

3. Contact Information
Email marc.anderson@sympraxisconsulting.com
Twitter @sympmarc
Blog http://sympmarc.com
SPServices http://spservices.codeplex.com
SPXSLT http://spxslt.codeplex.com
Books http://sympmarc.com/books
The Middle Tier Manifesto http://bit.ly/middletier

4. Session Overview
• Single-page applications (SPAs) are nothing new on the Web. However,
like Responsive Web Design (RWD), SPAs have gained favor as a way to
enable real work with an improved user experience (UX). SPAs first started
popping up regularly in creative contexts on public Web sites. These sites
have been out there for a while and are becoming more prevalent.
• Since the idea with SPAs is that one need not leave the single page to
accomplish some high percentage of the tasks at hand, it’s a great concept
to apply in a SharePoint context. The days where a clunky postback-ridden
application was acceptable is fading into the rear view mirror. It’s all about
Getting Work Done as effectively and painlessly as possible. We’ll look at
an SPA example taken from Marc’s popular blog series on building SPAs
in SharePoint and discuss successful approaches and pitfalls in doing so.

5. What is a Single Page Application (SPA)?
A single-page application (SPA), also known as single-page
interface (SPI), is a web application or web site that fits on a single
web page with the goal of providing a more fluid user experience akin
to a desktop application.
Definition from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_page_application

6. Why Single Page Applications?
• Get everything done in one place
• Fluid user experience
• Fewer page loads

7. What SPA Do You Know Best?

8. What is an SPA in SharePoint?
• Take over the entire screen

9. What is an SPA in SharePoint?
• Take over the main content area

10. What is an SPA in SharePoint?
• Take over a single Web Part (or act as one)

11. Examples of SPAs in SharePoint
• Full screen
• Provider Hosted Apps
• Main Content Area
• List views
• Forms
• Web Parts
• App Parts
• Quick survey
• Workflow actions brought into a list view

12. Tools We Can Use to Create an SPA
• JavaScript
• Lets us create behaviors, actions, and effects
• Data Access with AJAX
• Fetch data from external sources (XML, JSON, HTML, etc.)
• Additional Libraries
• jQuery
• SPServices
• CSOM
• Graphing tools

13. Popular SPA Frameworks

14. Pros and Cons of SPServices for SPAs
• Pros
• Lightweight compared to other frameworks
• Cross version compatibility for SharePoint 2007-2013
• Good community support
• Can be used in tandem with heavier frameworks (data access layer)
• Cons
• SOAP Web Services are deprecated as of SharePoint 2013
• Doesn’t offer as much as heavier frameworks

15. Demo