Development Tools
Behind every great site is a team of developers that made it happen. As today's websites grow more and more sophisticated, developers need the best tools possible to deliver that next groundbreaking project. Many Content Management Systems can actually make it more difficult to develop sites, and are perceived as a development nightmare. Welcome to Sitecore, .NET developer heaven.
From the very start, Sitecore has been a platform made by developers, for developers. We let you work they way you want to work, using the tools you love. As a .NET developer, you won't find a better environment to develop websites, while your business users are as equally happy, working in a tool that is easy to use, and feature-packed.
Tools of the Trade
As a .NET platform, we naturally support Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, and Visual Source Safe. We've created a rich working environment with automated code completion, as well as profiling and debugging tools that let you develop quickly, and effectively. Sitecore provides a powerful environment to prototype, develop and test your work, while leveraging the rich services and functionality that lets you do more with less effort. And speaking of less effort, you can leverage any .NET control you have, as well as any off-the-shelf controls with ease. Sitecore naturally produces ASPX and ASCX components, and can easily incorporate your existing .NET components.
For developers that don't use Visual Studio, Sitecore also offers our Development Center. Developer Center is a browser-based alternative to Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, allows you to create, manage, edit and debug your pages and layouts in an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop environment.
Layout and design
Sitecore gives you choices as a developer. We natively support Cascading Style Sheets and we've based our product on W3C standards. We naturally conform to the .NET paradigm of master pages, which we call layouts and sublayouts. Using this approach, you can develop your own page layouts using standard .NET controls, XSL, or a combination of the two. This sort of flexibility lets you use the right tool for the right job, and simplifies development.
Extensibility
Like we said, Sitecore believes in giving you choices. Sitecore provides a rich layer of APIs that number over 900. Our very own product is based on these APIs, and it's one of the most robust and feature-rich API sets in the industry. Sitecore exposes every facet of our product to you as a developer, and even allows you to reach into the core configuration, and develop your own extension and modifications.
XML Content
Being standards-based means strictly separating content from presentation, and storing content in standardized ways. All content in Sitecore is stored as XML. Sitecore provides the ability to tightly define content types as XML schemas, which we call templates. By strongly typing content, you have the ability to create rich, complex content types to handle any requirements you may come up with.
Open and Shared Source Library
Sitecore has developed a strong developer community over the years called the Sitecore Developer Network, and that community has created many useful components, layouts, templates and applications. Developers can take advantage of this rich codebase to speed developement, inspire ideas, or just learn design best practices.