Rob's Tech Fun and Games

OK, before I get started here, let me clarify.  I’m predominantly a SharePoint administrator, not a developer, so these reviews are based around their use for installation and administration, as opposed to their use for a web developer!  If I think something would be useful for different roles, I’ll try and point it out, but do bear the viewpoint in mind as you read further.

With the disclaimer out of the way, lets get started with O’Reilly’s “Essential SharePoint 2007″ (You can find this at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com).  I’ve got mixed feelings about this book.  I used it a lot when getting started with SharePoint, and its a great reference when I go back to do something that I’m not doing frequently.  However, it lacks depth, and seems a bit unfocussed, covering areas that developers, administrators and users all need to know.  Almost the entire team I work with, both developers and admins, have a copy of the book and use it on occasion, but its not a great place to start, and not the best place to go for a detailed technical reference either.  I’d say its absolutely ideal for someone tackling SharePoint in a smaller company, where you need to have an understanding across the board, rather than specialising in a particular area.  In a larger company, its a great book if you occasionally work with SharePoint and want a solid technical reminder.

Surprisingly, one of the most useful books for me for SharePoint was  “Microsoft SharePoint 2007 for Dummies” (You can find this at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com).  This may be because I’m a dummy, or just my method of approaching a new technology.  I read through a simple introduction to the technology, to get a rough idea of how it works, what the components are, how they fit together, and what the terminology is.  Because I start with a simple, clear and concise book , I can pick up that information really quickly, then I can use that information to bootstrap myself up to the complex technical specifics, and actually get the most of the in depth technical references.  The “Microsoft SharePoint 2007 for Dummies” is perfect for this, providing a really solid introduction to the concepts and terminology.  I think it’d also be useful for a developer trying to understand how SharePoint fits together and is likely to be used, and very useful for a technical manager who just needs broad brushstrokes while his team does the detail work.

I wasn’t keen on the “Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Administrator’s Companion” (You can find this at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com).    Others may feel differently about it – many of the technical people I work with love the style in these Microsoft Press books.  I find that its too focussed on how to achieve specific goals by clicking specific buttons, rather than focussing on the particularly settings you need, and why they are needed.  Its more a philosophical difference than anything – I’m not just focussed on results, I need to know why I’m doing something.  I’ve found a solid understanding of a technology leads to much better results … and a much better ability to troubleshoot issues … than simply knowing what you need to click to achieve a particular goal.  Unfortunately, that’s the path Microsoft in general have taken with their books and courses, and increasingly seems to be the approach taken by the technical people I meet.  If thats what you want, this book is perfect.  I didn’t get on with it.  If you check the Amazon reviews, however, you’ll find most people love it.

“SharePoint 2007 The Definitive Guide” (You can find this at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com) was pretty good as a guide.  Some aspects are very good – its coverage of SharePoint installations and upgrades from 2003 is excellent, for example.  Its coverage of network topologies and security is also excellent.  Where this falls down, and where the Internet shines, is the fact that I’ve found you need to know how a range of technologies work together to cover many of the odder demands of a SharePoint installation.  If you publish a SharePoint site, you’ll probably want to use ISA Server 2006 to secure it, not just rely on SharePoint.  Using a SQL server on a different domain via SQL authentication isn’t uncommon for DMZ deployments.  This book is great for vanilla SharePoint installs, and is definitive for basic admin tasks, such as deploying and configuring basic sites, roles and permissions.  You’ll need to look elsewhere for any installs beyond the vanilla.  I rarely go back to this book, but I’d thoroughly recommend reading through it at least once, and using it as a reference if you’re actively looking after SharePoint sites, as opposed to looking after the architecture.  If you need to get to grips at level of the stsadm command line, you won’t find it here.