Connect to SharePoint 2016 with Visual Studio

Question

I want to develop custom features, web parts, etc with Visual Studio 2015 and deploy it in a SharePoint 2016 on premises server.

Is it mandatory to install Visual Studio on the server?

If not, how can I develop a solution from my client PC that actually has installed Visual Studio (not SharePoint installed)?

My issue is the following: "I need to read AD Group from People Picker field, get users of corresponding Group from AD & add them in other People Picker field of Library/List in SharePoint 2010"

This issue is explained in http://spcodes.blogspot.com.ar/2013/02/read-ad-group-from-people-picker-field.html

Many Thanks

Answer 1

One of the requirement to develop a solution for SharePoint 2016 "An on-premises, one-server SharePoint farm. Visual Studio is installed on the same computer."

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/sp-add-ins/tools-and-environments-for-developing-sharepoint-add-ins

*note: this is only for development environment. Not allowed in Production.

Answer 2

If you are developing using the add in model, you do not need to develop on a SharePoint Server. You can deploy to the app catalog.

If you are developing farm solutions that need to be installed on the server, you should have a development environment, which must be a single server installation (technically, you could have a separate SQL, but ALL of SharePoint must be on a single server). Then Visual Studio should be installed there. Develop your solution, test it in the dev environment and install the built package on the live servers (ideally a test environment).

Answer 3

For sandbox or farm solutions, yes visual studio must be installed, but you should not install it on production server.
visual studio should only be installed on the development servers.