I think it depends on what you mean by "desert". I think that few camp in true desert. Folks often refer to the first 700 miles of the PCT as "the desert", but it's not --- it is dry, water is an issue, etc, but still.

As far as "relatively hot, dry" backpacking areas, there are lots of tips out there if you do even a hasty search. Here's one good example, one that I pretty much entirely agree with. Some others include this one, and this one. There are surely more.

I don't mean to cut off discussion with the above (!), but also see no sense in regurgitating old chestnuts that are already well defined --- i.e., more interesting IMO to discuss in the context of an existing base of knowledge. For example, I think there can be some debate over the merits of long-sleeved loose clothing vs. going in shorts and t-shirt (I favor the former). Or the right type of water containers, or use of inflatable mattresses or not, or concerns about snakes when night hiking, or use of an umbrella or not, etc etc.