Team Foundation Services integration with Git and other new features

Today, there has been a big step forward in the development of Team Foundation Services - Microsoft's cloud service for developers. Over the past few months, the TFS team has been working on new features that make these services even easier, more convenient and more efficient. One of the most high-profile innovations is the integration of the popular Git version control system with TFS services. Work on this does not stop and in the foreseeable future many more interesting functions will be added.

Git support

The development of modern applications is increasingly carried out by distributed and independent teams that use code separation. This has generated a lot of interest in distributed version control systems. One of these tools, Git, received support from Team Foundation Services.
Now when creating TFS projects, you can choose which version control system to use - native TFVC or Git.



Full support, integration and 100% compatibility with Git is declared. You can use the improved web interface for viewing the source code base in TFS integrated with Git. It looks as familiar as it is for the TFSVC database with a small addition in the form of quick cloning options.


You can also easily view commits:

See changes made to the code:

But it's still the same Git available to clients from the command line, Xcode, and other existing implementations.


Naturally, some functions of integration with Git require processing of existing interfaces for interacting with the version control system in Visual Studio itself. Now, when making changes to the code base, you can also select a branch (branch selector).


You can easily configure important Git configuration options through Visual Studio, for example, the name of the user on whose behalf changes are made:



All Git commands and ideology are supported. For example local commits:



Pull. Push:

Fetch:

Creating branches:

Resolving conflicts when merging branches and commits:



Other features familiar to TFSVS users also remained when using Git. When creating changes in the code, you can associate them with tasks, and automatically build the project from the Git repository.

Tag support for work items (tasks, bugs, requirements, etc.)

Currently, Team Foundation Services does not have the ability to modify existing or add new work item fields; this feature is only available if you install TFS locally in your organization.
Tags help you enter categories into work items that structure them into groups, without any additional configuration.
Just write the text in the tag and use it in the work items you need.

Later, when working on lists of work items, tags will be displayed on the screen, allowing you to quickly filter data.

Just click on the tag and as a result only those tasks to which it is assigned will be displayed.

Test management

The Visual Studio 2012 product group includes a test automation tool - Microsoft Test Manager. With it, you can plan test suites, perform product testing, track progress. We received feedback from some of our clients that in some scenarios, the installation of this product in the production environment is sometimes prohibited and complicates the testing process (the so-called zero impact test experience). A number of new features of Team Foundation Services helps in such cases, as it gives you the opportunity to work with manual test plans and the tests themselves through a browser.
In a special test hub you can see the plans, test options, who are assigned to execute the plans as well as their passing statuses:

Also, right from the browser, you can “launch” them to go through all the tests included in the test plan step by step:


We hope that you will like the new changes and functions of Team Foundation Setvices. Let me remind you that you can try them right now by registering at tfs.visualstudio.com . This service is currently free and will remain free for teams of up to five users in the future. Git support is included in the Update 2 Community Tecnology Preview for Visual Studio 2012.