From the Microsoft Power Platform blogs: Power Pages coding; Power Automate Desktop; Power Pages + Azure AD B2C error; Power Apps or Power BI

In this review of the Power Platform blogs:

• Power Pages: bring your own code! (tutorial)
• Organize UI elements in Power Automate Desktop
• Power Pages + Azure AD B2C: "The provided application is not valid" error
• Power Apps [or] Power BI: which tool fits your business needs best?

Power Pages: bring your own code! (tutorial)

Writing on his blog, Nick Doelman stated that Power Pages offers many low-code features for building external apps that connect to Dataverse. 

However, he noted that in real projects, needs often go beyond simple lists and forms. Teams usually end up adding custom web templates, JavaScript, and Liquid to handle more complex requirements.

Doelman wrote that this often leads to a common debate: why use Power Pages at all when you could build a richer experience with React or another front-end framework? According to Doelman, the answer is that Power Pages already provides secure hosting, built-in authentication, and Dataverse security through web roles and table permissions. Re-creating and maintaining all of that in a pure React app can be difficult and time-consuming.

Doelman pointed out that a new feature, Power Pages single-page applications (general availability on January 31), aims to combine both approaches. He stated that it lets you build a React-based app while still using Power Pages for hosting, authentication, and Dataverse security. 

In a tutorial, Doelman walked you through how to build a React site, show Dataverse data, enable sign-in, and control what users can access.

Organize UI elements in Power Automate Desktop

Writing on his blog, Pieter Veenstra stated that in recent months, he started using Power Automate Desktop to run automated tests for Power Apps.