Last week I started to tell you about some of the functionality we are building for Visual Studio Team System 2010. I wanted to elaborate on that some here.
I mentioned that only 20% of the code in most business applications is “new” code. That makes tracking down bugs in the majority of the application code even more difficult to do. From the design of the application through to the actual writing of the code, one of the most difficult problems has always been that of the bug that can’t be reproduced – the “no repro” bug. There are a lot of factors that drive these types of bugs and we are working to create tools to isolate the issue and allow faster fixes. One way we will do this is through a tool that can specify the exact state of the build used by a tester (what has been checked in, what has changed in source) and allow a comparison to the state of the build used by the developer when trying to reproduce the bug. It is often the subtle differences between these two that create the no repro state, and a new tool within VSTS 2010 has been designed to specifically address this.
One of the other common blockers to reproducing a bug is the collection of actionable data on the bug. By providing a set of tools designed specifically for testers, we are enabling better documentation of test scenarios as well as more thorough collection of data when a scenario fails. This includes the collection of system data, as well as stack trace information, screen images and even fully indexed video capture of the testers’ screen attached to the bug.
As developers make changes to the code, it is critical for them to effectively test their changes, not only to prove their code changes work as expected, but also to ensure there is no unexpected downstream effect. By providing developers with a test impact analysis, they can run all the necessary tests to validate the code changes helping developers quickly check-in code with confidence by running only the necessary tests, and reducing the churn created by unexpected breaking failures.
Of course, the applications cannot be successful if they are not carefully managed from the initial business problem, through to the code being built, and finally to deployment. Fortunately, we have a powerful collaboration hub at the core of VSTS: Team Foundation Server (TFS). TFS enables all of the roles in the lifecycle to work together on shared requirements, shared code assets, and a powerful build management system.
Customers tell us that one of their biggest challenges is the management of the overall build process and the ability to allow developers and testers to check-in code on a continuous basis. I am happy to report that among the new TFS features in VSTS 2010 are improvements to the source code management system with gated check-in, cross branch history and branch/merge visualization, and distributed build workflow. These improvements provide the same level of visual capabilities for source code and build management as we provide for architectural design.
More on the rest of the family of products later.
Namaste!
Soma, Does "the family of products" include a "true" data centric language for Visual Studio ?
How come you give out so much news before the PDC08?
It does not feel as much fun as a couple of weeks ago thanks to all news.
Cloud OS "Ballmer"
New SQL Server 2010
Visual Studio 2010.
Windows 7
Why!?
What's the use of Team System when only a handful of developers/companies can afford it?
I love Visual Studio and some of the tools it makes available. But I really don't like TFS.
Having source depot integrated into Visual Studio is handy- but it because it hides file relationships in the project developers tend to lose sight of what code they are changing. This is not so bad though, I just wish the diff utilities capabilities were as quick, clean and complete as "Windiff -lo".
What really bothers me is the TFS integration. When my machine is crawling along because I have a debugger, compiler, text editor, source code database and bug database all running at once-- well I'd like to be able to shut some of them down. Unfortunately thats not so easy.
I'd be working in Visual Studio at home afterhours, and VS would periodically hang before letting me know I'm not connected to the TFS database (repeatedly!). Or some doomed SDK download might interrupt. The integration makes it hard to get work done.
You've been kicked (a good thing) - Trackback from DotNetKicks.com
> What's the use of Team System when only a handful of developers/companies can afford it?
Your company can't afford an MSDN subscription that costs less than an average developer's yearly salary?
I use both TFS and Subversion source control. Subversion does a few things and it does them well: Core features such as check-in, check-out, revert, branch, merge, diff, and roll-back are implemented simply and effectively.
TFS is another monster. It is so tightly integrated with Visual Studio that even a seemingly simple operation can cause a flood of message boxes in the IDE. I can't count how many times an action in the IDE has triggered more than 5 message boxes in a row from TFS + Visual Studio.
I don't doubt that new features in TFS will be useful but more work is needed for the Core features. A client patterned off TortoiseSVN would go a long way. A stupid-easy installer patterned after http://www.visualsvn.com/server/ would be a big improvement too.
Does TFS use the Visual Source Safe code base? It sure seems like it.
@int19h,
I hope that was sarcasm. It costs barely less than some developers' salaries (in some countries)...
Glad to know about the information.
Can't you reduce the cost for these to reduce wider acceptability and kill piracy.
Mainly tough for freelance developers to afford.
Please consider this at least only for Visual Studio 2010(not team system) Professional standalone versions.
I wish MS would make these tools more affordable in generall. $799 for professional to ~$5K minimum for a team edition is quite a price hike. MS might have a better chance of getting more people using these tools if they can make them more affordable.
I work for a state government organization and we could benefit from team system, but the cost of it immediately removed it as an option for us.
Cost plus no documentation on how to install it are the primary reasons I never looked at TFS or its predecessors.
I mean does it run on my dev box? Is it a server based program? What hardware does it require? Can I just install it on my staging box or does it need its own server?
And 5k for a price tag? Really? We're not programming the Enterprise here.
Weekly digest of interesting stuff
I agree with previous posts regarding the costs associated with using TFS. As a micro-ISV, these tools are well outside of my reach.
I actually feel this is a bit short-sighted on Microsoft's part. Rather than trying to make TFS a revenue source through extremely high subscription costs, they should be working toward shoring up the quality of Windows development efforts in general.
In other words, I think it would be better for the Windows platform in the long term if third-party software quality were higher. Lowering the cost of these tools (by a significant margin) would increase their adoption considerably.
Edision wrote: "TFS is another monster. Agreed! The same could be said for Visual Studio and .NET. In my opinion, the Visual Studio development suite is what Microsoft needs to develop their internal software packages like office. Then Microsoft turns around and resells the package. Using these tools is like trying to fit a size 4 foot into a size 11 shoe. Of course it covers the foot but it doesn't fit. Microsoft is out of touch with developers needs both in terms of pricing and products.
[原文地址]： Visual Studio Team System 2010 [原文发表时间]： Monday, October 06, 2008 5:28 PM 上周我开始向大家介绍我们正在开发的 Visual