PCF LEARNING RESOURCES: Where to start?

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Posted on by seadude

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Hello,

Lets use this thread to share ideas on how to get started with PCF for the uninitiated.

So, I'm techie, but have never delved into a specific programming language. I mostly just learn enough to be dangerous/complete the task at hand then move on. Power Apps and Power Automate (Flow) have been the exception to this behaviour. These tools roped me in ~2 years ago and I've been all-in since.

Now I stand at the door of "real" programming. I stand here staring down the PowerApps Component Framework (PCF) like a cowboy in the corral... hand quavering just above my keyboard...ready to "DRAW!" Bang! Bang! Bang!

Except... I don't know where to start!

From my research, PCF components can be based on React or Typescript which are javascript frameworks. I researched these, but couldn't really find footing because the concepts and language were foreign to me. So lets begin at the beginning... javascript itself.

Here's where I started this morning:

- LinkedIn Learning has a JavaScript Essential Training class

- After sitting through the first 5-6 videos... this is the one for me

Will report back as things move ahead!

Lookout PCF... here we come!
@tianaranjo

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Power Apps Pro Dev & ISV

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a33ik 3,306 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Hello,
Once you are more familiar with TypeScript you can check videos I work on - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0WiRFWRFGlQr5tGZdUGUlyTl7Gi1Wb_K

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RajYRaman 270 on at

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This is how I got started:
1. Read the high-level overview, especially the lifecycle methods. Most of the time, you are dealing with init and updateView https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/developer/component-framework/custom-controls-overview
2. Brush up on basic npm commands e.g. how to add a package using npm install, how to use npm run
3. ES2015 overview, especially how modules work https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/modules.html
4. Build sample components and debug them when they are running in harness. Start with simple increment component https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/developer/component-framework/sample-controls/increment-control
5. Look into other people's code in pcf.gallery

Venturing into react very early will overwhelm beginners as there is lot of distractions along the way. Keep it simple for now till you have a solid understanding of how things are hooked up. The key thing is to use the Dev Tools to understand what is happening under to hood. This is now much easier with the harness, as you don't need to deploy the component to play with it.

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