In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
- Creating a new TFS project
- Managing your work
- Using local workspaces for source control
- Performing code reviews
- Getting feedback from your users
- Using Git for source control
- Taking Advantage of Git's command line
Team Foundation Server (TFS) is a popular companion for users of Visual Studio, which provides Microsoft's approach to source control and project management. Developers working in traditional corporate software development will frequently use TFS as a way to coordinate their activity with that of product owners, quality assurance, and release engineers.
TFS is a separate product from VS2015, and exists in both paid and free (TFS Express) versions. The primary difference between the two is that TFS Express is designed for smaller developer teams and thus supports five users, while the full version has no such restrictions. Day to day usage will typically involve connecting to TFS from within Visual Studio or through the TFS web browser interface.
A couple of years ago when VS2013 launched, Microsoft created Visual Studio Online (VSO). This has since been renamed as Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS). VSTS can best be thought of as the cloud-based, hosted version of TFS. It provides developers with an area to create and store their projects without having to also take on the task of administrating a server. VSTS is also free for up to five users just like TFS Express.
When deciding on what type of TFS to use, you should first consider the benefits (if any) provided by your copy of Visual Studio as well as the type of environment you will be a part of. For example, larger corporations typically have an existing source code repository and build system that you will utilize. Smaller teams or individual developers will be able to set up something new.
Beyond TFS, there is also the option to use a Git based repository from within Visual Studio. Providers such as GitHub make it easy to have a cloud-based Git instance, and using Git with TFS is also an option. Finally, as Git is an open source, freely available tool, it is also possible to run a private Git server.
The key takeaway is that using a source code repository system is an important part of modern software development, and should be used regardless of the size of your development team. Since the focus of this book is on Visual Studio, this chapter will look at how to utilize these various systems from within Visual Studio to promote good practices and improve your workflow. The recipes in this chapter will walk you through using these new improvements and features, so let's get started.
Note
Just what is source control anyway? For those readers who are unfamiliar with source control, read on. Source control is a way to manage the changes made to source code files. (It may also be called version control). Since most development files are text, it is relatively easy for software tools to track changes between files, who made the changes, optional user-entered notes, and when the changes were made. Rather than keep track of this by hand, these software tools assist in automating the process. As a developer, you can still work with familiar filenames like Program.cs or HelperClass.cs, but to the tool, the changes are tracked as distinct versions. This allows you to compare the current file to its history, and if you make an unworkable change on the current copy, replace it with something from the source control's archive. Two of the more common tools for source code management, TFS and Git, are discussed in this chapter.