visual studio 11 dev preview product guide v1

8/2/2019 Visual Studio 11 Dev Preview Product Guide v1

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ApplicationLifecycleManagementwithVisualStudio11

VisualStudio11DeveloperPreview

ProductGuide



2



1

Theever-acceleratingadvancesintechnologyinevitablymeanthatyourcustomersexpect

applicationsthatarehighlyfunctional,fast,andintuitive.Furthermore,customersexpecttobe

abletoruntheirapplicationsonavarietyofdevices,fromhigh-endcomputers,throughlaptops,

tosmartphones.Microsoft’sdevelopmenttoolsenabledeveloperstotakefulladvantageofthe

capabilitiesoftheWindows®operatingsystemplatformtodeliverexceptionalsolutionsby

usingtheskillsandtechnologiesthattheyalreadyknowandlove.Microsoft®VisualStudio®

11providestoolsandtemplatesthatenabledeveloperstobuildapplicationsthatdelivera

compellinguserexperienceandimplementadvancedfunctionalitythatcanspantheentirerange

ofhardwarethatyourcustomersuse.Whetherworkingindividuallyorinasmall,medium,orlarge

developmentteam,VisualStudio11setsanewstandardfordevelopmenttools,helpingteams

todeliversuperiorresultsfortheircustomersthathelpsetthemapartfromtheircompetitors.

ThenewfeaturesthatareavailableinVisualStudio11improveyourabilitytobuildinnovative

andvisuallystunningapplications.VisualStudio11enablesyoutoimplementexcitingsolutions

byusingthenewprogrammingparadigmsthatWindows®8providesandbyusingthestyling

andtouchfeaturesoftheWindows8platform.VisualStudio11alsoenablesyoutoexploit

thepowerfulcollectionoftechnologiesthatareavailablewithcurrentandearlierversionsof

Windows,andyoucanconstructapplicationsthatarebasedontheservicesandframeworksthat

WindowsAzure™,MicrosoftOffice,MicrosoftSharePoint®,MicrosoftSQLServer®,Windows®

Phone,andWindowsServer®provide.DeveloperswhobuildWebapplicationshavegreattools

forcreatingASP.NET,MicrosoftSilverlight®,HTML,andJavaScriptapplications.Whetheryouare

constructingconsumerservicesorimplementingbusinesssolutions,VisualStudio11deliversanintegrateddevelopmentexperiencethatenablesyoutocreatehigh-qualitysoftware.

Designingandconstructingamodernapplicationfrequentlyincorporatestheefforts

ofarangeofdeveloperswhohavespecializedskills,fromdesigningcaptivatinguser

interfaces,throughimplementingefficientbusinesslogic,thoroughlytestingthe

applicationinatimelyandcomprehensivemanner,anddeployingandmaintainingthe

application.VisualStudio’sintegratedtooling,design,andtestcapabilitiesmakeiteasier

fordeveloperstotakeadvantageoftheirskillstobuildhigh-qualitysolutions.

Introduction



22

Teamworkandeffective

communicationare

fundamentallyimportant

aspectsofanyapplication

developmentproject.

Teamworkandeffectivecommunicationarefundamentallyimportantaspectsofanyapplication

developmentproject.VisualStudio11simplifiestheinteractionbetweenteammembersand

streamlinestheflowofinformationacrosstheteam.Microsoft®VisualStudio®TeamFoundation

Server11isthecentralrepositoryandintegrationhubthatbringstogethertools,processes,and

projectartifactsandsimplifiesthein-contextcollaborationofteammembersacrossfunctional

disciplinesandplatforms.TeamFoundationServer11supportsanumberofprovenindustry

methodologiesoutofthebox,butteamsalsohavethefreedomtochoosewhichdevelopment

processtoadoptorcustomize,andtheycanchoosethewayinwhichtheywanttowork.

Teamsoftenworkonmanydifferentplatformstodeliversuccessfulsolutions.TeamFoundation

Server11enablesteammembersacrossheterogeneousdevelopmentteams—teamsdeveloping

appsonandforavarietyofplatformsusingavarietyoftools—tofocus

onasingle,integratedviewofthedevelopmentprocessregardlessofthe

platformtheyaretargetingorusingfordevelopment.TeamFoundation

Server11worksseamlesslywithyourfavoriteclienttoolssuchasVisual

Studio,MicrosoftTestManager,andVisualStudioTeamExplorer.Team

FoundationServer11alsoworksseamlesslywithTeamExplorerEverywhere

forteammemberswhoareusingEclipse-basedintegrateddevelopment

environments(IDEs),andcompaniontoolssuchasMicrosoftExcel®and

MicrosoftProject.IntegrationwithMicrosoftProjectServerenablesbusiness

stakeholdersandprojectmanagerstogaininsightintothehealthofongoing

projects,understandhowtheysupportthebusinessneeds,andhelpidentifywaystoimproveexistingprocesses.Bystandardizingonasingle,integrated

infrastructure,developmentteamsthatusearangeofplatformsandtools

canimprovecollaborationandreducetheiroperationalcosts.Inshort,teammemberscan

focusondeliveringvalueforcustomersratherthantransitioninginformationbetweenroles.

Microsoft®VisualStudio®TeamFoundationServicePreviewcombinesthepower

ofTeamFoundationServer11withthesimplicityandefficiencyofWindowsAzure

andthehighavailabilityandscalabilityofMicrosoft®SQLAzure™.Teamsofall

sizescanbeupandrunninginnotimeandarefreetofocusondeliveringgreat

softwaretodelighttheircustomerswhileleavingITmanagementtoMicrosoft.

Introduction



Contents

IntroductiontoVisualStudio11andTeamFoundationServer11 1

Page

IncreasingEfciencyandReducingWaste 4

Page

WhyUseVisualStudio11withTeamFoundationServer11? 4

Page

ApplicationLifecycleManagementFeaturesinVisualStudio11DeveloperPreview 6

Page

VisualStudioTeamFoundationServicePreview

SupportforHeterogeneousEnvironments

Conclusion

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35

Page

Page

Page



4

VisualStudio11andTeamFoundationServer11helptoaddresstheseconcernsbysupplyinga

collectionofinteroperabletoolsthatareintendedtosupportandmanagetheentireapplication

lifecycle.TheprimaryaimsofVisualStudio11andTeamFoundationServer11areto:

• Prioritizecollaborationbetweenallpersonnelwhoareinvolvedindevelopinganapplication,

incorporatingcustomersasequalparticipantsinthedevelopmentworkflow.

• Delivertimelyandactionablefeedbacktoreducewastedeffortandtheassociatedcosts.

• Providenaturalandappropriatetoolsforthetasksthatareinvolvedindesigning,

developing,testing,delivering,andmaintainingqualitysoftware.

• Supportbestpracticesforapplicationdevelopment,whileremainingagnosticofanyspecificmethodology.

Collaborationandcommunicationareessentialelementsinanysuccessfulsoftwareproject.Previous

versionsofTeamFoundationServerfocusedonensuringthatdevelopersandprojectmanagershad

thetoolsandinformationthattheyneededtobuildandtrackthedevelopmentofaproject.However,

yourcustomersareafundamentallyimportantpartoftheteam;ifyoudonotdeliverwhatthey

want,youreffortsarewasted.Inthisrelease,wehaveextendedthefunctionalitythatisavailable

inTeamFoundationServerandprovidedadditionalfeaturestoenabledevelopersandcustomers

toworkmoreclosely.Thesetoolswillhelptoclosethecommunicationsgapbyenablingcustomers

toexpresstheirrequirementsmoresuccinctlyandprovidemoreeffectiveandfocusedfeedback.

IncreasingEfficiencyandReducingWaste

Traditionalwaterfalldevelopmentapproachestaketheviewthatitisnecessarytofullyunderstandthe

users’requirementsbeforeattemptingtodesignorbuildanything.Althoughthisapproachisawidely

usedandextremelyvaluablediscipline,itissometimesdifculttoreacttouserrequirements,whichmay

changeswiftly.Someofthesemodicationsmaybedueinparttochangesinthebusinessenvironment,

andothersmaybearesultofmisunderstandingsthatarecausedbythedifferencesbetweenthelay

vocabularyoftheusersandthetechnicalvocabularyoftheanalystsanddevelopers.Whateverthe

cause,theearlierthatyoucanreacttochange,thelesscostlytheimpactofthosechangeswillbe.

WhyUseVisualStudio11withTeamFoundationServer11?

Forallbutthemosttrivialofsolutions,applicationdevelopmentisamultidisciplinedexercisethatencompassesawidevarietyoftasksandparticipants.Theprincipalaimofanysoftwaredevelopmenteffortistodeliveraqualityapplicationthatmeetsyourcustomers’requirementsinatimelyandcost-effectivemanner.However,therearemanyobstaclesthatcangetinthewayofanydevelopmentteamthatseekstodeliveraworkingandfully-functioningsolution.Manyoftheproblemsarecausedbyalackofclearandeffectivecommunicationbetweendevelopers,projectmanagers,andcustomers.Otherproblemsmaysimplybearesultofalackofdisciplinethatoccursbecausedevelopersandprojectmanagersmisuseormisunderstandthedevelopment

process.Consequently,adaptableandeasy-to-usetoolingiscriticaltohelpovercomemanyoftheissuesthatcanarisewhenproducingapotentiallycomplexsystem.

ApplicationLifecycleManagementwithVisualStudio11DeveloperPreview

andVisualStudioTeamFoundation

Server11DeveloperPreview

4



5

IncludingCustomersintheDevelopmentWorkflow

Akeypartofsuccessfulapplicationdevelopmentistolistento

whatcustomerssayandbuildwhattheyreallywant.Toassistwith

understandinganddocumentingusers’requirements,VisualStudio11

providestoolsforstoryboarding.Thesetoolsenablethedevelopment

teamtodiscussandvisualizetherequirementswithusersand

understandhowusersexpecttousetheapplication.Thestoryboard

canbesavedtoMicrosoftSharePointandlinkedtoTeamFoundation

Server11workitemstohelpprovidecontextforthedevelopers.

InanAgileenvironment,developersmustbeabletoquicklydemonstrate

theresultsoftheirlaborsandobtainfeedbackfromusers,againina

clear,concise,andunambiguousmanner.VisualStudio11provides

toolsthatenableastakeholdertoreviewthesoftwareandprovide

actionablefeedback.Theteamcangeneratetheappropriatetasksto

dealwiththisfeedback,planfortheirimplementation,andallocate

Stakeholder Gives Feedback

FeedbackIncorporated

Daily Cycles

Runa Sprint

Plana Sprint

Manage theBacklog

Tell thestory

Ask forFeedback

Deploy toStakeholders

thecorrespondingworktotheappropriatemembersoftheteam.

FeedbackisstoredinTeamFoundationServer11andisavailabletothe

developerswhoareresponsibleforincorporatinganyrequiredchanges.

IncludingCustomersintheDevelopmentWorkflow

Anothercommonsourceofwasteconcernsthetoolingitself.Developerswhoareforcedtouseunfamiliartoolsrequiretimetolearnhowtouse

thesetoolsproperly.Additionally,developerscannotbeefficientifthey

mustusetoolsthatdonotfittheirmodeofworking.TeamExplorer

integratesthefeaturesthatTeamFoundationServer11providesintoVisual

Studio11inanintuitivemanner,enablingdeveloperstoperformtheirtasks

inafamiliarenvironment.However,TeamFoundationServer11andVisual

Studio11donotmandatethatyoufollowanyspecificmethodology;you

canusethemwithwhicheverdevelopmentapproachyourorganizationis

mostcomfortablewith,whetheritisAgileoramoreformalmethodsuch

asthosethatCapabilityMaturityModelIntegration(CMMI®)describes.

Developersandprojectmanagersmustbeabletocommunicateeffectively

withotherteammemberswhoareworkingonthesameproject,and

cooperatingmembersshouldideallyhavethesameunderstandingof

thesolutionandsharethesamepriorities.VisualStudio11enables

developersandprojectmanagerstoprovidecontextastheycommunicate

witheachother,helpingtoensurethattheyallhavethesame,complete

understandingofthetasksthattheyareworkingonandhowtheyfit

together.Additionally,VisualStudio11providesaliveviewofthestatusof

theproject,ensuringthatallparticipantsarekeptup-to-datewithprogress.

ManagingtheLifecycleofaModernApplication

Modernsoftwareshouldbeviewedasalivingasset,withalifecyclethat

spanstheactivitiesthatrepresenttheentirelifetimeoftheproduct,

fromidentificationofbusinessrequirements,throughdevelopment,

testing,deployment,support,andmaintenance,rightuptotheeventual

retirementoftheapplication.Consequently,theapplicationlifecycle

managementtoolsetthatyouemploymustbeabletohandlethe

development,testing,anddeploymentaspectsofanapplicationandbe

flexibleenoughtomanageandincorporatefeedbackfromoperations

staff.Asthesoftwareisused,bugswillbediscovered;thetoolsetmust

providefacilitiesforrecordingissues,toenablethedevelopmentteam

toresolvethem,andprovidetheoperationsstaffwiththeinformation

Agilemethodologiesseektoaddressaccommodatechange,primarilyby

breakingalargeprojectdownintosmallerchunks,butmanyofthesameissues

canstillarise,albeitearlieronandonasmallerscale.Thebasicproblemisstill

thesame;usersmustbeabletoexpresstheirrequirementsinaclear,concise,

andunambiguousmannerthatthedeveloperscanunderstand.Customers’

expectationsmayalsogrowunreasonablyquickly.Forexample,astechnology

moveson,usersfrequentlyassumethatanysolutioncaneasilyincludethe

latestandmostdesirablefeatures.Technologicaladvancesfrequentlylead

tomorediversesolutions,andfailuretounderstandthiscomplexity—orthecontextinwhichitisbestapplied—canalsocausemuchwastedeffort.



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DEVELOPOPERATE

Sprint Monitor

RequirementsProductBacklog

OperationsBacklog

Working Software

ApplicationLifecycleManagementFeaturesinVisualStudio11DeveloperPreview

VisualStudio11buildsonthefeaturesthatwereavailablewithearlier

versions,integratingwithTeamFoundationServer11toimplement

adatastorethathousesthedetailsofthetaskstobeperformed(the

backlog)fortheentiredevelopmentteam.Thisnewimplementation

ofVisualStudioretainsthefacilitiesofearlierversions,suchastools

tosupportahighly-customizabledevelopmentprocess,integrated

check-inandcheck-outfacilities,andautomatedreal-timereporting.

Italsoincludesworkflowsthatactivelyincorporatetheactivities

ofthetestteamintotheapplicationlifecycle,therebyimproving

thequalityassuranceprocessesofthedevelopmenteffort.

Wehaveupdatedtheplanningtoolstoprovidetransparencyacrossthe

planningprocessandenablethefullparticipationofthedevelopment

team.Thesetoolsscaleasrequired,andyoucanapplythemtomatch

yourorganization’sdevelopmentprocessesandbestpractices.

WithVisualStudio11DeveloperPreview,wehaveincludednew

toolsthatimprovetheinteractionwiththekeystakeholdersofany

project—theusers.Weprovidefeaturesthatfullyintegrateusersinto

thedevelopmentworkflow,enablingthemtoparticipateinthedesign

ofanapplicationandprovideclearandactionablefeedbackforthe

solution.Asmentionedpreviously,wehavealsoimprovedthesupportfor

operationsstaffwhoactastheusers’advocateswhenthesolutionhas

beendeployed;theycanprovidecomprehensiveinformationaboutbugs

andotherfeaturesinthesystemthatthedevelopmentteamsneeds.

thattheyrequiretorolloutthefixes.Thisinteractionimpliesaninherent

connectionbetweentheprocessesthatthedevelopmentteamperforms

whenitbuildsandmaintainsthesoftwareandthosethattheoperations

teamusestomanagethesoftwarewhenitisdeployed.Development

andoperationspersonnelmustbeabletocollaborateeffectively

becausethereispotentialforbottleneckstooccur,whichwillleadto

delaysandinefficiencywhereverhandoffsbetweenthetwoteamsexist,

especiallywhenthereisscopeformiscommunicationbetweenthem.

VisualStudio11helpstoaligndevelopmentwithoperationsintoaseamless

workflow,reducingthechurnthatcanoccur.Forexample,acommon

situationisthattheoperationsteamreportsabuginthelivesoftware

thatthedevelopmentteamisunabletoreproduceoutsidetheproduction

environment.Tohelpwithsituationssuchasthis,MicrosoftIntelliTrace®

hasbeenextendedtosupporttheproductionenvironment.Theoperations

teamcanrecordandcapturethesequenceofeventsthatcausedthe

bugandstorethetraceinformation,togetherwiththeappropriate

environmentaldata,inVisualStudioTeamFoundationServer11Developer

Preview.Theoperationsteamcanthenhandthisinformation,togetherwith

anyotherobservations,tothedevelopmentteamforanalysisandtriage.

Theprojectmanagercansubsequentlycreateanappropriateworkitem

andassignittoadevelopertofix.Thisworkflowhelpstoacceleratethe

transitionsbetweenthedevelopmentandoperationsteams,ensuringthat

bugsareresolvedandupdatedsoftwareisdeployedinatimelymanner.



7

WehaveoptimizedthedeveloperexperiencethatTeamExplorerprovides

inVisualStudio11DeveloperPreview,freeingthedevelopmentteam

frommanyofthedistractionsthatcanoccurwhenitisworkingona

complexprojectandenablingthemtoworkmorequicklyandefficiently.

Finally,wehaveextendedthefeaturesthatareavailablefor

integratingthetestcycleintothedevelopmentworkflow,enhancing

thescopeforperformingautomatedandexploratorytesting.

ManagingaProject

WeimplementedanenhancedwebexperienceforVisualStudioTeam

FoundationServer11DeveloperPreview.TheVisualStudioTeamFoundation

Server11WebAccessapplicationprovidesarichexperiencethatyoucan

accessbyusingawebbrowserthroughawebportal.Wealsoimplemented

touchcontrolstoenablequick,naturalinteractionontouch-screendevices.

Note:Theexamplesthatareshowninthissection

arebasedontheScrumprocesstemplateforVisual

StudioTeamFoundationServer11Developer

Preview.RememberthatTeamFoundationServer

11isdesignedtobemethodology-agnostic.We

provideprojecttemplatesforsomecommon

Agilemethodsthatyoucanimportandadapt

toyourownrequirements.Othertemplates

fordifferentdevelopmentprocessesarealso

availableand,naturally,youarefreetodevelop

andpublishyourowncustomtemplates.

WebAccessgivesthestakeholderswhomaynothaveaccessto

VisualStudio11anextremelyeasywaytointeractwiththerest

oftheteam.Forexample,userscanviewtheirworkitems.

Userscanquerythesourcecontroldatabaseand

viewthecheck-instatusofitems.

TheWebAccessapplicationisanidealtoolforgeographically

dispersedteams;allteammembersseethesameviewsofthesame

datathatthesameinstanceofTeamFoundationServer11manages.

IfyouarefollowingaScrumprocess,andyouhavetheScrumtemplate



8

installed,WebAccessenablesyoutobreaka

projectdownintoworkitemsandthenassign

theseworkitemstosprintsintheproduct

backlog.Workitemscanincluderichtext

andimagestoprovideadditionalinformation

andhelpfulfeedbacktodevelopers.

Youcanviewthedetailsofanindividual

sprintandeditittodecomposethe

itemsitcontainsintotasks.



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WebAccessalsoenablesyoutodragitems

andreorderthemifyouneedtoreprioritize

work.Youcanreassignitemstodifferent

sprints,againsimplybydraggingthem

ontoasprintintheleftmostpane.

Youcanclickabacklogitemtoeditit,

assignittoateammember,setthepriority,

andspecifytheeffortthatisrequired.

Youcanquicklyseehowmuchworkhasbeen

assignedtoeachteammemberandhowmuch

sparecapacityheorshehasleft.Thisfeature

enablesyoutodeterminewhetheranymember

ofthedevelopmentteamisoverburdened.If

necessary,youcanreallocatetaskstootherteam

memberstoevenouttheworkload,oryoucan

reschedulethebacklogitemtoalatersprint.

Thevelocitychartdisplayshistoricaldatathat

showshowmuchworktheteamwasableto

deliverinpastiterations,basedontheeffort-

loadingofeachiteminthatiteration.Youcan

thencomparethisfiguretothetotaleffort

forthecurrentiteration,tohelpensurethat

theworkloadofaniterationisfeasible.



1010

Ofcourse,youcanonlyassignworktoteam

membersiftheyarecurrentlyavailabletowork

ontheproject.Thecapacity-planningviewinthe

WebAccessapplicationenablesyoutorecordand

adjusttheavailabilityofanyteammember—if,

forexample,someonewantstotakeavacation—

andamendtheteamcapacityaccordingly.

Thetaskboardenablesyoutomanagethe

statusofthevarioustasksthatmakeupthe

backlogitems.Forexample,youcanviewwhich

tasksareinprogress,whichtaskshaveyetto

bestarted,andwhichtasksarecompleted.As

teammembersstartandcompletetasks,youcan

performdrag-and-dropoperationstomovethem

aroundthetaskboard,soyouhaveacomplete

andup-to-dateviewofprojectprogress.



1111

Anotherkeyfeatureofthetaskboardisthe

setofworkflowrules,whichpreventaccidental

errorsfromoccurring.Forexample,suppose

thatyouattempttomoveataskfromthe

DonecolumnbacktotheInProgresscolumn

withoutspecifyingtheadditionaleffortthatis

requiredtocompletetheworkproperly.Inthis

case,thetaskboardwillhighlighttheerror.

Youcaneditthepropertiesofthetaskto

specifytheremainingeffortthatisrequired.

Thedefaultviewofthetaskboardshowsallof

thetasksforeachoftheworkitems,butyou

canhighlightaspecificteammemberifyou

simplyneedtoseethetasksthatareassigned

tothatdeveloper.Youcanalsousethetask

boardtoreassigntasksbetweendevelopers,

againbyusingadrag-and-dropoperationto

movetasksbetweenthedevelopers’schedules.

Inshort,byusingWebAccess,youcaneasily

managetheproject,assessthecapacityofthe

developmentteam,prioritizework,managethe

dependenciesandrelationshipsamongwork

itemsanddevelopers,monitorthestatusofthe

project,andgenerallykeeptrackoftheproject.

Theprojectdataislive,andanychangesare

immediatelyreflectedtodeveloperswhoare

usingVisualStudio11DeveloperPreview.



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GatheringUserRequirements

TheStoryboardingToolisanadd-infor

MicrosoftPowerPoint®thatenablesa

developertoworkwithausertounderstand

thebusinessrequirementsandplantheway

inwhichtheapplicationshouldfunction.

Withthistool,youcanquicklymock-upauserinterfaceand

createanimationsthatillustratehowtheuserexpectstonavigate

throughtheapplication,showingsampledata,simulatingevents,

andgenerallygettingafeelforwhattheuserwants.



13

Itiseasytocollaboratewithagroupofusers;you

candisplaythestoryboardthroughaprojector

andmakelivechangesasusersparticipateinthe

discussion.Youcanalsoemailthestoryboard

tousersandgathertheirfeedbackoffline;users

simplyrequireMicrosoftPowerPointtoviewit.

TheStoryboardingToolprovidesarichlibraryof

controls,butyoucanalsocreatecustomshapes,importthemintothestoryboardshapelibrary,

andsharethemwiththerestoftheteam.

UsingtheStoryboardingToolhelpsto

ensurethatyoufullyunderstandyourusers’

requirements,anditenablesyourusersto

portraytheirvisionfortheapplication.Allof

thiscanhappenveryquickly,withoutrequiring

thatyouwriteasinglelineofcodeorwaste

timegeneratingexpensiveprototypes.

ImprovingDeveloperProductivity

AkeyaimofVisualStudio11istohelpimprovedeveloperproductivity.Withthisinmind,

VisualStudio11includesanumberofnewcapabilities.Theseenableadevelopertofocuson

thetasksthatarenecessarytodevelopqualitysoftware,andtheysupplyaquickandeasy

mechanismforcollaboratingwithotherdeveloperswhoareworkingonthesameproject.

TeamExplorer

TeamExploreristhedeveloper’sprimary

interfaceforinteractingwithVisualStudioTeam

FoundationServer11DeveloperPreview.InVisual

Studio11DeveloperPreview,wehavechanged

TeamExplorertoprovideamoreorganized

userinterfacethatsimplifiesmanyofthetasks

thatteammembersperform.TeamExplorer

makesuseofasynchronouscommunications

withVisualStudioTeamFoundationServer

11toretrieveandsavedata,resultingin

acceleratedresponsetimes.TeamExploreralso

providesaWebAccesslinkthatquicklylaunches

TeamFoundationServer11’sWebAccess.



14

TheMyWorkpaneliststhedeveloper’stasks

anddisplaysthestatusofthesetasks.Itis

theviewthatatypicaldeveloperwillhave

openformuchofthetime.Adevelopercan

right-clickatasktogetaccesstothedetails

ortoeditthetask.Inaddition,theViewAll

linkdisplaysthedetailsofthetasksinVisual

Studio11inaformatthatissimilartothe

onethattheWebAccessapplicationuses.

Theintegratedsearchfeaturehelpsa

developertolocateprojectitemsand

otherinformationveryquickly.



15

OtherpanesinTeamExplorerprovideaccess

totheotherimportantfunctionsthata

developermustperformandthedatathat

thedeveloperrequires.Forexample,the

WorkItemspaneprovidesabroaderviewof

alloftheworkitemsacrosstheproject.

TheNewWorkItemlinkinthispaneenables

adevelopertoquicklydefineadditional

workitemsandaddthemtotheproject.



16

UsingthePendingChangespane,adeveloper

canchecksourcecodeinandoutofTeam

FoundationServer11.ThePendingChangespane

displaysthecontextofthecheck-inoperation,

enablingthedevelopertoquicklyverifythat

thecorrectfilesaresavedandspecifythatthe

correspondingworkitemhasbeenresolved.

Naturally,theSourceControlExplorerwindowis

alsoavailable,enablingyoutoperformcheck-in

andcheck-outoperationsatthesource-filelevel.



17

Shelvesets

Ifyouareworkingonacomplexpieceofcode,youmayhavefiles

openinseveralwindowsacrossacoupleofmonitors,youmayhave

variousbreakpointssetinyourcode,youmayhavewatchwindows

setup,andsoon.Inthemidstofthis,supposethatyourproject

managerwalksinandasksyoutoputeverythingonholdandwork

onanotherurgenttaskthatconcernsadifferentpieceofcode.In

thissituation,VisualStudio11enablesyoutopreservenotonlythestateofyourworkbutalsoyourentiredevelopmentenvironment,so

thatyoucanswitchtotheurgenttaskandthenresumeyourcurrent

worklater,hopefullyminimizingtheeffectsoftheinterruption.

Tosaveyourcurrentcontext,youcansimplyclickSuspendintheMy

WorkpaneinTeamExplorer.TeamFoundationServer11savesyour

codeandsettingstoashelvesetinTeamFoundationServer11.A

shelvesetisaserializedrepresentationofyourenvironment,including

thestateandpositionsofanywindowsthatyouhaveopen.

CodeReviews

AfundamentalapplicationlifecyclemanagementfeatureweaddedtoVisualStudioTeamFoundationServer11istoimprovethewayinwhich

developerscancollaborate.OnewayinwhichVisualStudio11facilitates

collaborationisbyenablingdeveloperstorequestandperformcodereviews

byusingTeamExplorer.ThisfeaturedefinesaworkflowinTeamFoundation

Server11thatsavesprojectstateandroutesreviewrequestsasworkitems

toteammembers.AseverwithTeamFoundationServer,theseworkflows

areindependentofanyspecificprocessormethodology,soyoucan

incorporatecodereviewsatanyconvenientpointintheprojectlifecycle.

Tocontinuewithyourwork,youcanselectyourshelvesetfromthe

listofsuspendedactivitiesandresumeit.VisualStudio11downloads

thecodeandsettingsfromTeamFoundationServer11,restores

yourvariouswindows,watches,breakpoints,andotherconfiguration

data,enablingyoutocarryonfromexactlywhereyouleftoff.



18

TheRequestReviewlinkintheMyWorkpane

enablesyoutocreateanewcodereviewtask

andassignittooneormoreotherdevelopers.

TeamFoundationServer11createsashelveset

fortheprojectandstoresitintheVisual

StudioTeamFoundationServer11database.



19

ThiscodereviewrequestthenappearsintheMy

WorkpaneforeachreviewerinTeamExplorer.

Thereviewercanaddcomments,eithertothefile

ortospecificpartsofthecode.Thesecomments

aresentbackaspartofthecodereview.



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Ifthereviewerrequiresadditionalcontextor

wantstosuggestmodificationstothecode,

thereviewercanunshelvetheshelvesetforthe

codereview.Thiswillopentheentiresolution

andputitinthestatethatthedeveloperwas

usingwhenthecodereviewwasrequested.

Whenthereviewiscomplete,theFinishbutton

intheCodeReviewpaneenablesthereviewertoprovideaquicksummaryofthefeedback.

Theresultsofthereviewappearinthe

CodeReviews&Requestssectionofthe

MyWorkpaneinTeamExplorerforthe

developerthatrequestedthereview.

Thedevelopercanclickthereviewwork

itemstoexamineanycommentsthatthereviewermadeandincorporateanychanges

thatresultfromthereviewintothecode.



21

YoucanusetheCode-CloneAnalysistool

inacoupleofways.Inthefirstscenario,

theCode-CloneAnalysistoolexamines

yoursolutiontolookforlogicthatis

duplicated,enablingyoutofactorthiscode

outintooneormorecommonmethods.

Code-CloneAnalysis

VisualStudiohashistoricallyprovidedtoolsthatenableadeveloperto

improvecodequalitybyrefactoringcode;forexample,byextracting

commonlyoccurringfunctionalityintoamethod.However,thisprocess

dependsonthedevelopertodeterminewheresuchreusablecodeis

likelytooccur.Differentdevelopersworkingonthesameprojectmay

notbeawareofanysuchrefactoring,resultinginduplicatedcode.

Anothercommonphenomenonconcernstheuseofcopyandpaste;

adevelopermaycopyachunkofcodethatperformssomeuseful

taskfromoneprojectorfiletoanother.Ifthisoccursseveraltimes,

itispossiblethatthesamecodeisaddedtodifferentpartsofthe

sameproject.Furthermore,iftheoriginalcodethatiscopiedcontains

abug,thedeveloperhasprobablyduplicatedthisbuginmultiple

places.Theresultiscodethattakeslongertotestandrectify.



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TheCode-CloneAnalysistoolisintelligent—

itdoesnotjustsearchforidenticalblocks

ofcode;rather,itsearchesforsemantically

similarconstructsbyusingheuristics

developedbyMicrosoftResearch.

Youcanhuntthroughanentiresolution

tofindallpossiblecodeclones,oryoucan

highlightablockofcodeandasktheCode-

CloneAnalysistooltofindanycodethat

issimilar.Thistechniqueisusefulif,for

example,youarecorrectingabuginapiece

ofcodeandyouwanttoknowwhetherthe

samebugresultingfromasimilarpieceof

codeoccurselsewhereintheproject.



23

Youcanintegrateunittestingseamlessly

intoyourprojects.TheUnitTestExplorer

inVisualStudio11enablesyouto

manuallyruntheteststhataredefined

foryourprojectandviewtheresults.

ContinuousUnitTesting

VisualStudio11providesaunittestrunnerthatcancontinuously

executeunittestsinthebackgroundwhileyouareworkingonyour

code.Youcanseetheresultsimmediately,soyoudonothavetopause

andwaitfortestresults.Testimpactanalysisensuresthatthemost

importanttestsarerunfirst,soanyfailuresappearinseconds.

InVisualStudio11DeveloperPreview,wehaveupdatedtheunittestingcapabilityandmadeiteasiertoworkwiththird-partyunittesting

frameworkssuchasNUnit,xUnit,andsoon.Thiscapabilityisextensible.

Forexample,weplantosupportnativecodeinthenearfuture,whichwill

enableyoutowritetestsinnativecodeandruntestsagainstnativecode.



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Forteststhatfail,VisualStudio11displays

thereasonforthefailureandastacktrace.

Youcanclickthelinktothefailinglineofcode

andascertainthecause,makeanynecessary

corrections,andruntheunittestsagain.

PerformingExploratoryTesting

Unittestingisaplannedoperationthatisbasedonaspecificandwell-

definedsetoftests.However,themostrevealingbugsarefrequently

discoveredastheresultofunanticipatedexplorationofanapplication.

Tosupportthismethodofworking,MicrosoftTestManagerenablesyou

toperformexploratorytestingandrecordanybugsthatmayoccur.



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TheExploratoryTestingtoolisideal

forimplementingAgiletesting.

Specifically,itenablesyouto:

• Testwithoutperformingformaltest

planning.Youcannowstartdirectlytestingtheproductwithoutspendingtimewriting

testcasesorcomposingtestsuites.When

youstartanewtestingsession,thetool

generatesafulllogofyourinteractionwiththeapplicationundertest.Youcanannotateyoursessionwithnotes,and

youcancapturethescreenatanypoint

andaddtheresultingscreenshottoyournotes.Youcanalsoattachafiletoprovide

anyadditionalinformationifrequired.

• Fileactionablebugsfast.Whileyouare

runningtheapplication,youmayencounter

someunexpectedbehavior.TheExploratoryTestingtoolenablesyoutogenerateabug

report,andthestepsthatyouperformed

tocausethisbehaviorareautomaticallyincludedinthebugreport.Ifnecessary,

youcaneditthesestepsorreorderthembeforeyousavethebug.Youcanalsolink

thebugtoataskinTeamExplorer;this

taskcanthenbeassignedtoadeveloper.



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• Createtestcases.Inadditiontorecordingbugs,youcangeneratetestcasesthatare

basedonthestepsthatcausedthebugstoappear.Again,youcaneditthesteps,

reorderthem,andinsertadditionalones.

Thisfeaturecanhelpthetestteamtoverifythatthebugisnolongerpresentwhenthe

developerupdatesthecode.Thesetestcases

arestoredintheTestManagerrepository.

• Manageexploratorytestingsessions.

Whentestingiscomplete,youcanreturntoMicrosoftTestManager,which

savesthedetailsofthetestingsession

andincludesinformationsuchastheduration,whichnewbugswerefiled,

andwhichtestcaseswerecreated.



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UsingtheFeedbackManager,theusercanrun

theapplicationandrecordthewayinwhich

theapplicationisused.Theusercanalsotake

screenshotsorrecordaudioandvideoatany

point,perhapsprovidingarunningnarrative

ofthetasksthatheorsheisperforming.

ProvidingCustomerFeedback

Yourcustomersandendusersarethereasonthatyoubuildsoftware.

Therefore,obtainingtheirfeedbackiscriticaltothesuccessofthe

project.WithVisualStudio11DeveloperPreview,wehaveimplemented

theFeedbackManagertool,whichenablesthesekeystakeholdersto

providetimelyandactionablefeedbacktothedevelopmentteam.

Actionablefeedbackincludesnotjusttextcommentsbutalsovideos,

screenshots,andaudioannotationsthathelptheusertohighlightanyspecificissues.Theseitemshelptoprovidecontexttothedeveloper,

tounderstandtheactionsthattheuserwasperformingwhena

problemoccurredorafeaturewasnotfunctioningcorrectly.



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UsingtheFeedbackManager,theusercanrun

theapplicationandrecordthewayinwhich

theapplicationisused.Theusercanalsotake

screenshotsorrecordaudioandvideoatany

point,perhapsprovidingarunningnarrative

ofthetasksthatheorsheisperforming.

Theproductownerinthedevelopment

teamcanassessthisfeedback,generate

theappropriateworkitemsandtasksthat

includethedetailsthattheuserprovided,and

assignthemtoanappropriatedeveloper.



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IntelliTraceinproductionisanhistorical

debuggingtoolthatrecordsthesequenceof

eventsthatledtotheunexpectedbehavior.The

informationthatIntelliTracecapturesincludes

diagnosticdata,detailsofexceptions,thecall

stack,andatraceofwherethecodefailed.The

datathatIntelliTracecapturescanbestoredand

thenreplayedbyamemberofthedevelopment

teambyusingVisualStudio11Developer

Preview.AdeveloperwithVisualStudio11canusethisinformationtodebugtheapplication

inthesamewayasifitwasrunninglive.

ReportingBugsinProduction

Ifyourapplicationsrunningintheliveenvironmentdisplay

unusualbehaviororbugs,theoperationsstaffcanuseIntelliTrace

inproductiontocapturethedetailsofthatbehaviorandreportit

backtothedevelopmentteam.UsingIntelliTraceinthismanner

enablestheoperationsstafftoprovidedatathatgivesthedevelopers

greaterinsightintothecausesofbugs,anditcangreatlyreduce

thetimeittakestofixsuchbugsinaproductionapplication.



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VisualStudioTeamFoundationServicePreview

VisualStudioTeamFoundationServer11providesapowerfulrepository

forstoringprojectdata,butaswithallserver-basedsoftware,thereare

costsassociatedwiththeeffortthatisrequiredtoinstall,configure,

andmanageitappropriately.Additionally,asanincreasingnumber

ofprojectstakeadvantageofitsfeatures,youmayneedtoscalethe

hostingplatformuptosupporttheadditionalworkload.Furthermore,

asVisualStudioTeamFoundationServer11becomesacriticalpartofthedevelopmentinfrastructure,youmustbepreparedtomaintainit,

includingimplementinganappropriatedisaster-recoverystrategy.These

requirementscanadduptoasignificantinvestmentintimeandmoney.

Toaddresstheseissues,wehavemadetheTeamFoundationService

Previewavailableasanonlineservice,runningonWindowsAzure.

SimpleSign-UpandImmediateWebAccess

VisualStudioTeamFoundationServicefeaturesafriction-free

sign-upexperiencethatenablesteamstocreateandsetupa

completeAgileApplicationLifecycleManagementsysteminamatterofseconds.Usingawebbrowserandprovidinganemail

address,youcangetyourteamupandrunningquickly.

YouonlyneedtospecifyaURLforyourinstanceofVisual

StudioTeamFoundationService,accepttheTermsofService,

andclickCreatemyAccount.Withinseconds,youraccountwill

becreated,andtheAgileApplicationLifecycleManagement

systemwillbesetupandavailableforimmediateuse.

Youcanthenenrollyourteammembersandaddthemtothe

service.Itishosted,soVisualStudioTeamFoundationService

isavailabletoallteammembersregardlessoflocation.They

simplyneedtosigninandprovidetheircredentials.



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Youcanthenspecifytheprojectsthattheycanaccess

andtheoperationsthattheycanperform.

Consequently,thissolutionisidealforgeographicallydispersed

teams;aslongasyouhaveanetworkconnection,youcanaccess

VisualStudioTeamFoundationServicefromanywhere.

EasyCollaborationwithExternalContributors

Collaborationandcommunicationareessentialelementsinanysuccessful

softwaredevelopmentproject.Atdifferentphasesoftheproject,youmay

needcontributionsfromusersorspecialiststhatareeitherexternaltoyourcompanyorlocatedindifferentgeographiesaroundtheworld.Historically,

providingsystemandnetworkaccesstotheseexternalstakeholdersand

contributorshasbeenachallengingtaskthatinvolvedeithercreatingthose

usersaslocalusersonyournetworkandprovidingvirtualprivatenetwork

(VPN)accessorsettingupaninstanceoftheserverinaperimeternetwork.

Thesetasksrequireskilledsecurityprofessionalsand,inmanycases,

dedicatedinfrastructureandrigoroussecuritymanagementandpolicies.

Evenifyouarefortunateenoughtohaveaccesstotheappropriate

resourcestoenablethisscenario,itstilltakestime.WithVisualStudio

TeamFoundationService,youcanprovideaccesstothesystemin

seconds,andMicrosofttakesontheburdenofsecuringandmonitoringtheinfrastructure.Yousimplyentertheemailaddressofthepersonnel

youwanttogiveaccesstointheUserAdministrationportal.

NoInfrastructureManagement

WithVisualStudioTeamFoundationService,youcanspendyourtime

buildinggreatsoftwareinsteadofmanaginghardwareinfrastructureor

updatingsoftware.AstheadministratorofVisualStudioTeamFoundation

Service,youdonothavetoconcernyourselfwithlow-levelhousekeeping

tasks,suchasperformingoperatingsystemorsoftwareupgrades,taking

backups,patchingtheserver,orrespondingtohardwareorpowerfailures

inthemiddleofthenight.Instead,Microsofttakesonthatburden.

Yougetaccesstoworld-classdatacentersandnetworkinfrastructure

withthepeaceofmindthatMicrosoftensuresthatyouarealwaysusing

thelatestreleaseofthesoftware,thesystemismoresecure,andyour

dataissafelybackedup.Youarefreeduptofocusonwhatismost

importanttoyou:buildingsoftwarethatdelightsyourcustomers.



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ApplicationDevelopment

IfyouarefamiliarwithanEclipse-basedIDEsuchasIBMRationalApplicationDeveloper,

AdobeFlexBuilder,orAptanaStudio,youcan

connecttoVisualStudioTeamFoundation

Server11andtakeadvantageofitscapabilities

byusingTeamExplorerEverywhere.

TeamExplorerEverywhereincludesaplug-in

forEclipsethatprovidesasignificantsubsetof

thefacilitiesthatareavailabletoVisualStudio

11DeveloperPreview.Forexample,youcan

viewandedityourworkitems,employversion

controloveryourapplicationcode,trackbugs,

generatereports,andgetanup-to-dateview

oftheentireproject.TheTeamExplorerpane

integratesdirectlyintotheEclipseIDE.

SupportforHeterogeneousEnvironments

AlthoughVisualStudio11istheidealpartnerforVisualStudioTeam

FoundationServer11,itisnottheonlydevelopmentenvironment

thatiscommonlyinuse.ManyorganizationsuseotherpopularIDEs

thatarebasedonEclipse,andanimportantfeatureofVisualStudio

TeamFoundationServer11isitsabilitytointegratewiththesetools,

enablingdeveloperstocontinuetouseafamiliarenvironment.

Inasimilarvein,althoughHyper-V™isthepreferredplatform

forprovisioningandmanagingvirtualmachinestotestyour

applications,anumberofenterpriseshaveinvestedinalternative

privatecloudITinfrastructuressuchasVMware.VisualStudio

11providesenhancedlabmanagementcapabilitiesthatcan

integratewiththetestinfrastructureofyourchoice.



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LabManagement

TeamFoundationServer11enablesyouto

performtestlabmanagementwithoutrequiring

thatyouspendtimesettingupandconfiguring

MicrosoftSystemCenterVirtualMachine

Manager(SCVMM),whichyoucanusetocreate

standardenvironmentsfromMicrosoftTest

Managerbygroupingthemachinesthatyouhave

provisionedinyourprivatecloudinfrastructure.

Youonlyneedtorunasinglewizardtocreate

yourenvironment,andthiswizardcancreateall

ofthenecessaryagentsandautomaticallyinstall

andconfigurethemwithinthetestmachines.

Theplug-inalsoaddscommandstothe

TeammenuthatsupportVisualStudio

TeamFoundationServer11check-in,check-

out,andversioncontrolfeatures.



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Youcanusestandardenvironmentsaspartof

manualorautomatedtestingandforbuild-

deploy-testautomation.Togetadditional

benefitssuchassnapshots,youcancontinueto

createenvironmentsmanuallybyusingSCVMM.

TeamFoundationServer11supportsSCVMM11,

whichhasanumberofenhancementstosimplify

themanagementofyourtestlabinfrastructure.



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Designing,building,deploying,andmaintainingsuccessfulapplicationsisacollaborativeeffortthatinvolvesanumberofpeoplefulfillingavarietyofroles.TeamFoundationServer11providesascalablerepositorythatfacilitatesactiveandmeaningfulcommunicationsbetweenthedifferentteammemberswhoareworkingonaproject.ThetoolsprovidedwithTeamFoundationServer11enabledevelopers,customers,andoperationsstafftocapturehighlydescriptiveandactionabledataaboutthewayinwhichanapplicationbehaves.TeamExplorerinVisualStudio11suppliesafocusedandup-to-dateviewoftheprojectandthevarioustasks

thatadevelopermustperform.Together,allofthesefeatureshelptoimprovethesynergythatnaturallyexistsbetweenthemembersoftheteam,enablingthemtocollaboratemoreeffectivelyandtherebyincreasetheproductivityoftheentiredevelopmentprocess.

Conclusion



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visual studio 11 dev preview product guide v1

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