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Best practices in building PowerApps

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Posted on 16 Oct 2018 12:59:58 by Community Power Pla...

Dear all,

In a few weeks I am giving a presentation for a group of PowerApps enthousiasts. The subjects of this presentation will be best practices in building PowerApps. I have found a variety of resources and can use my own experience to implement in this presentation.

However, I am curious if anyone in this community has some tips, tricks and best practices they apply when building a PowerApp. All suggestions are welcome, lets help each other build proper PowerApps ;).

Regards,

Erik

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phi1618 3 on 26 Mar 2020 at 08:42:38

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Re: Best practices in building PowerApps

I couldn't agree more 😀
Community Power Pla... on 22 Oct 2018 at 08:28:10

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Re: Best practices in building PowerApps

Thank you for the lengty response! I will apply this during the presentation, this helps a lot.

Regards,

Erik
Drrickryp Super User 2024 Season 1 on 16 Oct 2018 at 16:35:04

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Re: Best practices in building PowerApps

Hi @Anonymous,
Holy Cow! Where to begin?
I would say that the two most important prerequisites for new potential user-developers to know before starting with Powerapps are that Powerapps makes databases and as such the user-developer cannot escape the principles of database design:
This is important regardless of the platform used and it may be too basic for your audience but it is always worth reviewing.
What is a table and the logic behind which data should be saved in a particular table.
The importance of having a primary key in every table.
What are Lookup tables and how are they used in designing a database.
Relationships between tables, particularly concentrating on the one to many relationship.
https://www.datanamic.com/support/lt-dez005-introduction-db-modeling.html is a very comprehensive article on the basics of database design practices but it is not only a great overview but something the user can come back to review if they have problems developing a new database.
Probably the most important prerequisite in understanding the unique features of Powerapps as a platform and why it is designed the way it is, is the concept of delegation.
Allows Powerapps to work on devices with limited memory by "delegating" certain critical functions to the server and then allowing it to download the results to the local machine (handheld, tablet or computer).
Gives access to vast sized databases on portable devices allowing users to work almost anywhere.
All new users should read the two following articles. If I were giving the lecture, I would go over both of them point by point:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/canvas-apps/delegation-overview
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/canvas-apps/delegation-list
It is so easy to create a new app with Powerapps, that users can do it without understanding database design and delegation. Powerapps has many other important features but without understanding the above concepts first, new users will quickly become overwhelmed and will need a lot of support when their creations go "off the rails". IMHO just covering these two points will consume most of your presentation. Then you could amaze and delight the audience with how Powerapps can make an app in a minute. Again, this may be too basic for your audience but I'm hoping that some of the new users in our forum read this and take it to heart.