Visual Studio Team System: Better Software Development for Agile Teams (Microsoft .Net Development) (Paperback)

by Will Stott (Author), James W. Newkirk (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
<>Make the Most of Visual Studio Team System in Real-World Agile Development

Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) gives Microsoft development teams a powerful, integrated toolset for Agile development. Visual Studio Team System: Better Software Development for Agile Teams is a comprehensive, start-to-finish guide to making the most of VSTS in real-world Agile environments.

Using a book-length case study, the authors show how to use VSTS to improve every aspect of software development, step by step–from project planning through design and from coding through testing and deployment.

Agile consultant Will Stott and Microsoft development lead James Newkirk carefully integrate theory and practice, offering hands-on exercises, practical insights into core Extreme Programming (XP) techniques, and much more.

Coverage includes

• Using VSTS to support the transition to Agile values and techniques

• Forming Agile teams and building effective process frameworks

• Leveraging Team Foundation Version Control to help teams manage change and share their code effectively

• Implementing incremental builds and integration with Team Foundation Build

• Making the most of VSTS tools for Test-Driven Development and refactoring

• Bringing agility into software modeling and using patterns to model solutions more effectively

• Using the FIT integrated testing framework to make sure customers are getting what they need

• Estimating, prioritizing, and planning Agile projects

Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Authors

Introduction: Broken Process
Section 1: Apply Sharp Tools and Values
Chapter 1: Introduction to Visual Studio Team System
Chapter 2: Agile Values
Review of Section 1: Sharp Tools and Values

Section 2: Introduce Agile Development
Chapter 3: Overview of Agile Development
Chapter 4: Forming an Agile Team
Chapter 5: Team Foundation Process Frameworks
Chapter 6: Improving Your Process Framework 
Review of Section 2: Introduce Agile Development

Section 3: Use Version Control
Chapter 7: Managing Change
Chapter 8: Setting Up TFS Version Control
Chapter 9: Using TFVC in Your Project
Chapter 10: Policing Your Project with TFVC
Review of Section 3: Use Version Control

Section 4: Build and Integrate Often
Chapter 11: Building and Integrating Software
Chapter 12: Working with Team Foundation Build
Review of Section 4: Build and Integrate Often

Section 5: Practice Test-Driven Development 
Chapter 13: Introduction to TDD
Chapter 14: Developing Your First Tests
Chapter 15: Learning to Refactor
Chapter 16: Code Coverage and Performance
Chapter 17: Integrating TFP Code with a User Interface
Review of Section 5: Practice Test-Driven Development

Section 6: Explore by Modeling
Chapter 18: Modeling with Agility
Chapter 19: Creating Models
Chapter 20: Using Models in an Agile Project
Chapter 21: Modeling Solutions with Patterns
Review of Section 6: Explore by Modeling

Section 7: Implement Customer Testing
Chapter 22: Involving Customers in Testing
Chapter 23: Creating FIT Fixtures
Chapter 24: Running FIT with Team Foundation Build
Review of Section 7: Implement Customer Testing

Section 8: Estimate, Prioritize, and Plan
Chapter 25: Estimating and Prioritizing Stories
Chapter 26: Agile Planning
Chapter 27: Managing Agile Projects
Review of Section 8: Estimate, Prioritize, and Plan

Section 9: Practice for Deployment
Chapter 28: Moving into Production
Chapter 29: Developing Installation Programs
Chapter 30: Deployment of Distributed Systems
Review of Section 9: Practice for Deployment

Section 10: Provide and Reveal Value
 Chapter 31: Producing Technical Reports
Chapter 32: Generating Business Value
Review of Section 10: Provide and Reveal Value
Retrospective: Fixing the Process

Appendixes
Appendix A: Setting Up VSTS for the Exercises
Appendix B: Software Project Environment for a Small Team
Appendix C: Agile Workspace 753 List of Exercises
List of Extreme Programming Practices
Glossary 
Bibliography
Resources 
Index 

This book is for working software developers, architects, testers, and managers in real teams–professionals who are either transitioning to VSTS or considering doing so. It will help you start deriving value from VSTS immediately, as you lay a solid foundation for ongoing process improvement.

About the Author

Will Stott is an associate of Exoftware, a consulting group specializing in Agile practices, and a freelance consultant based in Montreux, Switzerland. Will has worked with Microsoft technologies since the early days of MS-DOS and now specializes in C++ and C# development using Visual Studio. He has published a number of articles about Agile development and has spoken at various conferences in the United Kingdom and Europe.

James Newkirk is the product unit manager for CodePlex, Microsoft's community open source project hosting site. He is the coauthor of Test-Driven Development in Microsoft .NET (Microsoft Press, 2004). Prior to joining Microsoft he coauthored "Enterprise Solution Patterns in .NET" (Microsoft patterns & practices) and Extreme Programming in Practice (Addison-Wesley, 2001).

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Product Details

• Paperback: 864 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1 edition (May 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321418506
• ISBN-13: 978-0321418500
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.8 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #147,380 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The Microsoft .NET Development Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid work on doing Agile in the VSTS/TFS world, November 13, 2007

By	James Holmes "Co-Author 'Windows Developer Po... (South Central Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book covers a wide range of cool things in VSTS wrapped up in a solid introduction to and roadmap through agile practices. Read the book and you'll get great guidance to working with agile planning, test driven development, refactoring, agile modeling, and a number of other topics.

I have two small gripes with the book. First is that it includes the seemingly mandatory, maddening "meet the development team and walk through each day in the project with them" storyline. This book does no better than any of the other weak attempts at the novelization of a working team. Leave that stuff off for novellas and focus on the technical aspects instead. My second gripe is the book's organization. Planning is way back in section 8, modelling's in 6, etc. It seems a bit disjointed.

Those gripes aside, the content in the book is just great. The walk-through of test driven development is solid, and the emphasis on having an environment and code base that can rapidly change to requirements is very nice.

The technical side relating to Team Systems is also solid. The guidance on using source control is well-written, and the section on working with team build is as good as it can be (I'm NOT a fan of team build). The section on using and working with the process frameworks are solid, although I wished they'd covered the process editor add on.

I'm also very happy to see that the Framework for Integrated Testing (FIT) was included -- I've been a long-time proponent of FIT and love seeing it in more books.

Overall this is a very solid book. I like their approach to discussing agile, and I like their tie-ins to VSTS/TFS. They gloss over some of the things I don't like about VSTS/TFS, but hey, those are more my issues, not theirs.

This book is a good addition to your bookshelf if you're looking to do agile in the VSTS/TFS world.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on Agile and VSTS, November 14, 2008

By	Ivan Fioravanti "4ward" (Milan, Italy) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I liked the book very much, it dives deeply in Agile principles and the best way to use VSTS to apply them.
I was really please by the scetion dedicated to FIT.

0 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and useful, September 25, 2007

By	Fabio M. C. Castro "Fabio Camara" (Sao Paulo, Brasil) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

From the first chapter, you want to be with the book in a hand and VSTS in the another making all of the taught examples.