This document provides an overview of developing solutions and solution packages in SharePoint using Visual Studio. It discusses:
- Solution packages allow the systematic deployment and retraction of SharePoint assets across load balanced servers. They are CAB files with a WSP extension.
- Features are units of functionality in SharePoint that become available when activated. They have a scope such as site, web, etc. and can trigger event receivers on installation, activation, etc.
- Solution manifests and feature manifests define where files are deployed and what a feature contains. Visual Studio 2010 includes templates to simplify creation of SharePoint projects, features, workflows and other items.