Reading a SharePoint List using JavaScript Object Model

Using JavaScript is the buzz since the introduction of the SharePoint apps. The JavaScript client side API has improved quite a lot in SharePoint 2013 and this is the only option if you are developing a SharePoint hosted app. When comparing with the server-side object model, I did not found many conceptual differences in the API. If we are to access a list, what we need to do is refer the current site through the current context and then refer the list available in the current site. 

Here is the div tag available in my Default.aspx file which contains an unordered list inside. Forget about the other items later. Will discuss about it in next post.

<div>

<ul id="ToDoItems"></ul>

</div>

Here are some important objects created in the JavaScript API and look how similar they are with the Server-side object model.

Working with Napa Office 365 Development Tools

In my previous article I gave an introduction on how to start Office 365 development with SharePoint Online and how to Add the app into SharePoint online. In this article I will be focusing on working with Napa Office 365 Development Tools. You can go to the development portal at https://www.napacloudapp.com/. Make sure you have signed into Office 365 so the apps available for the particular environment will be displayed. 

Napa Projects Home

Click on the Add New Project link and a popup will appear. Select App for SharePoint and give a project name. (I give mine as DemoApp1). You will be navigated to the development environment. 

How to start Office 365 SharePoint Development

Office 365 is a hand full package. It includes many services where the key services are  SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and Lync Online. As you may have in all the systems, Office 365 also has an admin panel which is called 'Office 365 admin center'. The image below is a screen caption of the Office 365 admin center.

Office 365 admin center

You may have access to this or you may not. The main development focused on Office 365 is SharePoint. With SharePoint 2013, its mostly about apps. In this article I will describe how to start creating a SharePoint app using "Napa Office 365 Development Tools".