Beginning LightSwitch: Getting Started

UPDATE 10/17/2013: This post was updated to include the latest LightSwitch version in Visual Studio 2013 and HTML Client.
UPDATE 8/12/2012: This post was updated to include LightSwitch in Visual Studio 2012.

There’s a ton of information out there on building LightSwitch applications, especially on the LightSwitch section of the Visual Studio Developer Center but here I want to pull together a cohesive set of entry-level articles that focus on the most important concepts you need to learn in order to build any LightSwitch application. By the way, if you aren’t familiar with what LightSwitch is and what it can do I encourage you to visit our page: Understanding LightSwitch

Depending on the version of Visual Studio you have, select the appropriate article series to get started:

LightSwitch in Visual Studio 2013 – HTML Client

• Part 1: What’s in a Table? Describing Your Data
• Part 2: Feel the Love. Defining Data Relationships
• Part 3: Screen Templates, Which One Do I Choose?
• Part 4: Too much information! Sorting and Filtering Data with Queries
• Part 5: May I? Controlling Access with User Permissions
• Part 6: More Control! Customizing the app with JavaScript & CSS
• Download the Completed Sample App

LightSwitch in Visual Studio 2012 – Desktop Client

• Part 1: What’s in a Table? Describing Your Data
• Part 2: Feel the Love. Defining Data Relationships
• Part 3: Screen Templates, Which One Do I Choose?
• Part 4: Too much information! Sorting and Filtering Data with Queries
• Part 5: May I? Controlling Access with User Permissions
• Part 6: Go beyond the box. Customizing LightSwitch Apps with Extensions
• Download the Completed Sample App

Visual Studio LightSwitch 2011 (or LightSwitch in Visual Studio 2010)

• Part 1: What's in a Table? Describing your Data
• Part 2: Feel the Love. Defining Data Relationships
• Part 3: Screen Templates - Which One Do I Choose?
• Part 4: Too much information! Sorting and Filtering Data with Queries
• Part 5: May I? Controlling Access with User Permissions 
• Part 6: I Feel Pretty! Customizing the "Look and Feel" with Themes
• Download the Completed Sample App

More Getting Started Resources

Creating Your First LightSwitch Application
This is a step-by-step walkthrough that shows you how to quickly build a simple contact manager. It should take you 5 to 10 minutes to complete the application so it’s a great place to start.

Beginning HTML5: “Signed-In” article series
This is a great introduction to the HTML5 client in LightSwitch that builds a simple sign-in sheet application.

Beginning SharePoint & Office 365: Creating a cloud business app with a social newsfeed
This tutorial shows you how to integrate LightSwitch in Visual Studio 2013 apps with Office 365 services.

Watch the LightSwitch How Do I Videos
Learn the techniques to build great LightSwitch apps with these step-by-step video lessons.

Get Started with the LightSwitch Starter Kits
If you want a super-quick way to get an application started, check out the starter kits. There’s currently six available for you to choose from and are full working applications you can use.

Enjoy!

Comments

• Anonymous
  December 02, 2011
  any news about Lightsitch Version 2

• Anonymous
  December 02, 2011
  this sounds like a great series ... looking forward to it

• Anonymous
  December 03, 2011
  It sounds great. And I want to learn more about it.

• Anonymous
  December 19, 2011
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  December 20, 2011
  Try uninstalling SQL Server Compact Edition 3.0 and the restarting the install.   That worked for me.  Merry Christmas!

• Anonymous
  December 21, 2011
  Hi Ron, Sorry you're having install trouble. There are a lot of folks in the forums that can help troubleshoot: social.msdn.microsoft.com/.../threads HTH, -Beth

• Anonymous
  January 21, 2012
  Great series!

• Anonymous
  July 18, 2012
  Hi How to bind Lightswitch custom controls with sql server 2008 R2? any one can plz help me..

• Anonymous
  September 06, 2012
  Hi, Lightswitch needs it's own certifcation. It's going to take over the IT world it's so easy to use.. :-_) Tim

• Anonymous
  December 07, 2012
  I don't know what a programmer should do after lightswitch

• Anonymous
  February 14, 2013
  Very Great series !

• Anonymous
  January 30, 2014
  so kind and so good tutorials. thanks! :)

• Anonymous
  February 04, 2014
  Hi, In Visual Studio 2013 - I am attempting to run Lightswitch but get the following error - I have downloaded the latest Lightswitch Toolkit upgrade and VS SDL - the following is the error ...cannot be opened becasue its project type (ISXPROJ) is not supported

• Anonymous
  February 05, 2014
  @MARK - you shouldn't have to download the toolkit to create LightSwitch projects, you only need it to create extensions. Sounds like a bad install. Can you please post the details in the forums? We will be able to troubleshoot better there. social.msdn.microsoft.com/.../home

• Anonymous
  May 07, 2014
  excellent article,more than that,it was very informative ...Thank you  Beth Massi.. You're My GURU for Light Switch...

• Anonymous
  July 16, 2014
  how do i create a lightswitch project in vs 2012?  When I go to New Prject I don't see a Lightswitch project template.

• Anonymous
  July 16, 2014
  @RL -- in VS 2012 the LightSwitch template is right off the root node and not under the language nodes. You also need to have VS2012 Professional or higher installed. HTH, -Beth

• Anonymous
  December 16, 2014
  Please Beth, I need an example on how to create and consume classes in Lightswitch 2013. I used classes in 2012 version and it worked well. Now, I am building same app I built with 2012 using 2013 version but is not working. I posted this in the forum last month but all their solutions are not working. I will so much appreciate it if you can help me to look into it. Thank you and merry xmas in advance.