Updated: July 15, 2020 (November 9, 2015)

  Analyst Report

TFS 2015 and VS Online Could Improve, Speed Dev Processes

My Atlas / Analyst Reports

1,426 wordsTime to read: 8 min
Rob Sanfilippo by
Rob Sanfilippo

Before joining Directions on Microsoft, Rob worked at Microsoft for 14 years where he designed technologies for Microsoft products and... more

Team Foundation Server (TFS) 2015 is generally available. TFS is a member of the Visual Studio (VS) family that supports source code control, software project and build management, testing, and group collaboration functionality. The new version brings new build and test capabilities that can speed processes and simplify integration with non-Microsoft tools and programming languages. Agile process tools, which can help teams targeting so-called DevOps collaboration, also get improvements. Most TFS capabilities are also offered through the Microsoft-hosted VS Online service, which could be more attractive than TFS for some teams because it eliminates the burden of deploying and maintaining TFS on-premises.

Build, Test Features Enhanced

TFS 2015 delivers build management and test feature additions that could help teams improve software quality, especially as development cycles are shortened. The additions include the following:

New build definition tools allow build workflows to be defined in Team Web Access (a Web-based portal) rather than requiring the VS integrated development environment (IDE), so team leads and build owners that don’t use the IDE can work with builds, and the tools are accessible from any browser. Build definitions are composed of steps, such as for building, testing, and deploying, that can be selected from a gallery (to which Microsoft and community members contribute) or custom defined. For example, steps for building Android code, using Xamarin tools, and deploying to Azure are available. Builds can be triggered by check-ins, upon a schedule, or manually, and output of build agents (including those on non-Windows platforms) can be viewed in Team Web Access as the build runs. A build definition audit log has been added, so changes that were made and who made them can be reviewed, and previous definition versions can be restored. Build summary information, such as test results charts and failure descriptions, can be viewed, and bugs to address problems can be created from the summary pages.

Atlas Members have full access

Get access to this and thousands of other unbiased analyses, roadmaps, decision kits, infographics, reference guides, and more, all included with membership. Comprehensive access to the most in-depth and unbiased expertise for Microsoft enterprise decision-making is waiting.

Membership Options

Already have an account? Login Now