Tools are there for every profession to make the jobs easier. It’s the same for SharePoint development as well. Most growing companies delivering SharePoint development services would need to make use of a number of tools that make it easy for the developers. If the tools are free yet useful, it’s a jackpot. 

Here are 5 free tools with a wide range of capabilities that enhance SharePoint development. A good majority of SharePoint developers in the software development Dubai industry rely on these tools and the benefits they promise.

Fiddler

Basically a free web debugging proxy, Fiddler gives developers useful information regarding traffic between the computer and the internet. The tool can be particularly useful for developers who would be writing or debugging codes that redirect users to several ‘middleman’ URLs before taking them to their destination. If any problems occur along the way, the tool will let them see them so they can focus on fixing them. It also gives information on requests and responses including cookies. 

SharePoint Manager

A must-have free tool for SharePoint developers, SharePoint manager can be used to view every tiny detail about a SharePoint farm – from site and feature in the farm to property. Values that are hidden from the UI can also be viewed. 

AD Explorer

A free tool from Microsoft that would come in handy for developers in scenarios where they are asked to check for issues that mess up the user profile synchronization process. It gives a read-only view of the Active Directory for the developers to double check that everything is in order. 

Papercut

It is a lightweight desktop SMTP server that receives messages and displays them to the developer, making it an ideal option in environments where an SMTP server is unavailable and if the devs don’t want any outgoing messages. The program can be started on the development server with necessary configurations in the SharePoint farm.

ILSpy

ILSpy facilitates browsing and decompiling of .NET assemblies that aren’t obfuscated, especially when using third-party APIs that are not properly documented. ILSpy allows developers to look at the inside of the assemblies to figure out how they work and the types of interfaces available to the consumer. 

The decompiled assemblies, methods, properties etc. can be entirely saved in code files. .NET Reflector from RedGate is also a good alternative but ILSpy is free. 

Conclusion

For developers who can build their own tools to expand their toolbox, SharePoint development would be a cakewalk. There are only a few reliable IT services companies in Dubai with the skillset and expertise to develop robust SharePoint applications or tools for that matter. Such a company’s service can help you overcome any challenges associated with SharePoint development.