DavidRBrown.com » MsBuild

REVIEW: Professional Team Foundation Server 2010 Ed Blankenship, Martin Woodward, Grant Holliday, Brian Keller

David — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 08:55:57 +0000

Product Description

Authoritative guide to TFS 2010 from a dream team of Microsoft insiders and MVPs!Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server (TFS) has evolved until it is now an essential tool for Microsoft?s Application Lifestyle Management suite of productivity tools, enabling collaboration within and among software development teams. By 2011, TFS will replace Microsoft?s leading source control system, VisualSourceSafe, resulting in an even greater demand for information about it. Professional Team Foundation Server 2010, written by an accomplished team of Microsoft insiders and Microsoft MVPs, provides the thorough, step-by-step instruction you need to use TFS 2010 efficiently?so you can more effectively manage and deliver software products in an enterprise.

Provides a broad overview of Team Foundation Server for developers, software project managers, testers, business analysts, and others wanting to?learn how to use TFS
Gives TFS administrators the tools they need to efficiently monitor and manage the TFS environment
Covers core TFS functions including project management, work item tracking, version control, test case management, build automation, reporting, and more??
Explains extensibility options and how to write extensions for TFS 2010
Helps certification candidates prepare for the Microsoft Team Foundation Server 2010 certification exam (Exam 70-512)

The clear, programmer-to-programmer Wrox style of Professional Team Foundation Server 2010 will soon have you thoroughly up to speed.

From the Back Cover

Effectively manage and deliver software projects with TFS
Team Foundation Server (TFS) has undergone a complete overhaul as the central tool in Microsoft’s Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) portfolio. This book addresses the many changes that have taken place since the 2005 version of TFS and provides an in-depth look at how these changes can work to your advantage. The team of authors reviews what’s new in TFS 2010, including its ease of configuration and installation, a new platform for testing, work item tracking and usability, and helpful new tools to manage project plans. Packed with detailed coverage, this book arms you with the information you need to effectively manage and deliver software projects with TFS.
Professional Team Foundation Server 2010:

Walks you through planning and installing a TFS deployment
Features a comprehensive overview of version control
Discusses migrating from legacy version control systems,including Visual SourceSafe
Reviews how to automate and customize the build process
Discusses project management and testing tools
Reviews administering a TFS environment, including creating a backup plan, handling disaster recovery, and monitoring server health and performance
Prepares you for taking the TFS 2010 Microsoft Certification Exam (70-512)
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Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

My Review

The authors are all well-known Microsoft MVP’s and have a track record of providing valuable must know knowledge in the industry. They really leverage their ability to communicate in a way to reach all audiences. One of the sections I find most valuable is Chapter 2 “Planning a Deployment” where it includes a typical Adoption Timeline that provides an outline to assist with adaptation and avoid some common pitfalls. When you get more in depth into the book, insight is provided into the newly implemented Windows Work Flow (WF) Build Process. This book guides you by the hand and provides you with TFS 2010 capabilities while also identifying its limitations. It’s an all-inclusive guide to TFS2010 that is useful to all levels of experience users. This book is a must have for anyone interested in understanding and mastering TFS2010.

http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Team-Foundation-Server-Programmer/dp/0470943327/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307986871&sr=1-1

TFS-Team Foundation Server Useful Links

David — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:31:54 +0000

Here’s quick list that I put together to use as a reference for making changes and staying up to date with TFS information.

Visual Studio Gallery

- http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/en-us

MSDN Team System Home

- http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/teamsystem/default.aspx

Team System Downloads

- http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/teamsystem/dd408375.aspx

TFS Virtual Image

- This image contains a full TFS installation as well as Visual Studio 2008 Team Suite. go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=120876.

TFS Power Tools

- Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition Power Tools go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=120940

TFS MSDN Library

- http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fda2bad5.aspx

Make Basic Customizations to a Work Item Type

- http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms400654.aspx (Also Includes How To add a Custom State)

MSDN Forums

- http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-us/categories/

Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi

- http:/sedodream.com/default.aspx

Bharry’s Blog

- http://blogs.msdn.com/bharry/

Developer Support Team

- http://blogs.msdn.com/dstfs/default.aspx

A Book Truly Worth Its Price.

David — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:55:47 +0000

If ones goal is to be a developer of worth it’s best to understand one will never know everything about anything. While searching for an answer to an ASPNETCompiler issue with TFS building a project I stumbled upon a link to this book Inside the Microsoft® Build Engine by Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi , William Bartholomew . It immediately grabbed my attention because it’s one of a small group of books that actually cover Team Foundation Server with MSBuild. It also has relevant information as to the upcoming release of VSTS2010. Needless to say I ordered it immediately to add to the library and get a real understanding of MSBuild in and out to truly know the core of the Build Process. After receiving it at my office it helped resolved a few issues I had which saved me a few hours of research and is now serving as a great reference manual. I still have not completed the book as of yet but look forward to writing a complete review once I am done. So far saving me 2-3 hours of research makes this book worth its weight in gold. I also joined the Team System Live event for Running Interactive Build Agents for UI Testing and Debugging Organized by one of the Authors William Bartholomew. It was definitely interesting and things did not go as planned with TFS Building the project. However I will be attending future events to further my knowledge as needed in the Software industry.
Amazon Book Details

Product Description
The build process when code gets assembled to see how and how well it works is a critical step in software development. Developers had few options for customizing the build process before Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008, but the Microsoft Build Engine (MSBuild) enables developers to customize each step during a build. MSBuild is extensible and uses an XML file to describe each step, allowing the build master or developer to easily change and augment how projects are built. This book offers hands-on guidance for customizing MSBuild, and provides a cookbook of examples on Web deployment, automated releases, and other essential topics. It also covers Visual Studio Team Foundation Build, the build engine in Visual Studio Team System.

Product Details

Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Microsoft Press (January 7, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0735626286
ISBN-13: 978-0735626287
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.3 x 1.5 inches