Asp.net web application into SharePoint app

Question

I'm new to SharePoint development. I've developed an asp.net web application and I want to deploy it to SharePoint 2013.

The web application references two libraries, one is custom made and the other is downloaded from CodePlex.

It allows users to create and respond to surveys then calculate the result and output it to excel spreadsheet.The web application works just fine. What I'm concerned about is the deployment to SharePoint server since I'm new to it and got a short time to learn it.

My colleague advised me to convert it into a SharePoint app (right click the solution >> convert to SharePoint app) then deploy it to SharePoint through an app part.

I'm wondering is this solution feasible? and how is the app part is going to look like on the SharePoint site?

Answer 1

You have a lot of flexibility in this area. If this web application can be rewritten as a JavaScript/HTML/CSS only solution, then create a SharePoint-hosted app (i.e. SP-hosted app does not allow managed code, such as C#). Otherwise, you can create a Provider-hosted app. If you go with the Provider-hosted app, since it looks like your app does not have any SharePoint components, the app will be deployed to the "host web" only. The remote components can be deployed to your provided web server or cloud.

The beautify of the apps is the their isolation. You get a many benefits in this area:

1. The app is deployed to an isolated web. Thus the SharePoint farm is not compromised by developer codes.
2. Security (preventing cross-domain scripting and enforcing app permissions)
3. App monitoring and resource allocation to the app
4. Ability to use any language, framework, or platform that supports HTML/JS/REST to communicate with SharePoint resources.

You have the flexibility to customize the app however you want it to look. But, since you want to deploy it to a SharePoint site then use SharePoint theme (see here for more info)