Today, Microsoft announced Visual Studio 2013, the next release of is integrated developer tools solution for building modern applications for devices, the cloud and on the client. Visual Studio 2013 Preview software will be released at Build 2013. ... read more

For those that aren’t aware, WebMatrix is a free, lightweight web development tool that was first introduced in 2010 which provides a great, focused web development experience for ASP.NET, PHP, and Node.js. ... read more

Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 (VS2012.2) is now available for download. Just as with VS2012.1, this release contains important fixes as well as a wealth of new functionality, addressing feedback received from the community and aligning with key software development trends in the market. The new functionality...

The ALM Rangers have released the eBook: Better Unit Testing with Microsoft Fakes and it’s available via Codeplex. This eBook contains practical guidance for migrating to and unit testing with Microsoft Fakes. ... read more

January's ALM Summit on the Microsoft Campus brought together some of the greatest minds in application development, methodologies, and application lifecycle management. All of the sessions were recorded and are now available for on-demand viewing on Channel 9. ... read more

If you’re not familiar with the ALM Rangers then you’re certainly missing out on some of the most important content/guidance being offered when it comes to Application Lifecycle Management (ALM). I’ve mentioned them before on numerous occasions as I’ve personally used their guidance...

If you are an ALM manager, lead, or practitioner who is passionate about mastering your craft, you should register now to attend ALM Summit 3 this coming January 28 - February 1, 2013 at the Microsoft Conference Center in Redmond, Washington. ... read more

Testing has changed dramatically over the last several years, and what the Microsoft patterns & practices team learned has changed our tools and our workflows. While the goal of a testing organization is to continuously test a system to ensure the best experience for its customers, the reality is...

If you’ve been following this blog then it should come as no surprise that I’m a big proponent of Visual Studio (VS) and Team Foundation Server/Service (TFS). While the days of VB6 and Visual Source Safe (VSS) were classic and grand, the capabilities found today in VS and TFS easily surpass...

I immensely enjoy working with the “latest and greatest” software but as is always the case, being on the cutting edge does mean that there are certain nuisances that are to be expected. Having said that I fully expected a knockdown, drag out fight to ensue when I wanted to configure the...

Hey everyone! Yes yes, I do realize it's been forever since I've posted, but hopefully you haven't forgotten about this humble little blog-the thing about the ADM role is, it's never a guarantee when things are gonna start popping up like tulips in spring for you to do :D. But I've got a bit more free...

Visual Studio ALM Rangers always produce some incredible content and this latest round is no exception. 70 v olunteer Rangers worked together with product group members to create 20 Ranger solutions. This number broke all their past records and is a great example of the “Ranger muscle” at...

Hello everyone, and welcome to the first part of our ALM Series! If you're just joining in on this series and you want to know more about ALM, check out my introduction post here. Let's go ahead and get started with the first phase of ALM. But first, a strategically placed philosophical quote to provoke...

Greetings once again, folks! I've realized that while a lot of you can go and quickly look up code snippets and watch tutorials on different technologies, there are some aspects of development that you can't get without living it first-this is also a true statement about life, love and cooking, but i...

It’s no surprise that I’m a big proponent of Microsoft’s Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) toolset which means that I’m always on the lookout for great content be it video, podcasts, hands on labs, virtual machines, etc. Therefore when I came across Cameron Skinner, general...

The ALM Summit in November 2011 reaffirmed Microsoft’s position of thought leadership in Application Lifecycle Management and Agile Practices. Luminaries from across the software industry presented, covering the evolution of practices across both the Microsoft and Open Source Software (OSS) communities...

Having been indoctrinated in the use of Agile principles a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, it was about time that I became Scrum certified. To that end, I just finished attending a week long class which was delivered by Rod Claar (from RippleRock) and Doug Shimp (from 3Back). Scrum is quite a...

Microsoft had an outstanding //Build conference for 2011. It was held from September 13 to September 16, 2011 in Anaheim, California. For those interested in ALM, there were a lot of exciting new features announced for Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server 11 (Dev11). The following video’s concern...

If you ever have the pleasure of working here at Microsoft you’ll find that there is certainly no shortage of passionate people who have great ideas and want to share them with you. I was recently introduced to such a team that was comprised of individuals that presented a new methodology based...

Successful software projects manifest themselves when teams work together. When a team has good communication and transparency, it tends to find problems sooner. Teams want to come to work and are excited about what they’re building when things are going right... read more

Our friends at TechNet Edge captured some great conversations on the ground at TechEd North America 2011. Check out Jason Zander talking with Richard Campbell about Visual Studio vNext, specifically the upcoming ALM features. ... read more

Our friends “across the pond” seem to have the right idea as they’re conducting numerous in-person and Live Meeting seminars on all aspects of software development using Visual Studio (VS). ... read more

The more time I spend using Team Foundation Server (TFS), the more I believe it’s an integral component of the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Framework. Now while most organizations employ some sort of source control and change management system there are those that still “wing it”...

Today kicked off TechEd 2011 and there’s no shortage of news coming out of the conference. Most notable is what Visual Studio has to offer concerning application lifecycle management (ALM). ... read more

Here’s a typical scenario: The Project Management Office (PMO) has standardized on Project Server (PS) for project and portfolio ...read more