Interview Questions for TFS

In TFS (Team Foundation Server), both Work Items and Tasks are used for tracking work, but they serve different purposes within the project lifecycle. Think of a Work Item as a high-level representation of a piece of work, like a User Story or a Bug, while a Task is a smaller, more granular unit of work that contributes to completing a Work Item.

For example, a User Story might be “As a user, I want to be able to log in securely so that I can access my account.” This is a Work Item. Tasks under this User Story might include “Design the login form”, “Implement the authentication logic”, and “Write unit tests for login functionality.” Each task is a smaller, more manageable piece of work that rolls up to the larger User Story.

• Work Items: Represent larger pieces of work, often representing features, user stories, bugs, or requirements. They are typically assigned to developers or other team members.
• Tasks: Are smaller, more specific units of work that break down Work Items into manageable chunks. They are often assigned to individuals and track progress towards completing the parent Work Item.

The key difference lies in their scope and granularity. Work Items provide a high-level view of project progress, while Tasks provide detailed tracking of individual efforts within those larger items.

Creating and managing a build definition in TFS involves several steps, starting with defining the source code, build process, and output artifacts. Imagine it like creating a recipe for your software—you need to specify the ingredients (code), the steps (build process), and the final product (executable or deployable package).

Step 1: Define the Source Code: Specify the location of your source code in your TFS repository. This could be a specific folder, branch, or even a specific set of files.

Step 2: Choose a Build Process Template: Select a pre-defined build process template (e.g., a template for building a .NET application, a Java application, or a web application). These templates provide a starting point with pre-configured tasks and settings. You can customize these templates to suit your specific needs.

Step 3: Configure Build Steps: Customize the build process by adding, removing, or modifying build steps. These steps might include compiling code, running tests, packaging the application, and deploying it to a test or production environment. You might add steps for code analysis, generating documentation, or running other automated tasks.

Step 4: Specify Build Triggers: Define how and when the build will be triggered. Options include continuous integration (building every time code is checked in), scheduled builds (building at specific intervals), or manual builds (triggering the build manually).

Step 5: Define Output Artifacts: Specify the location where the build outputs (e.g., DLLs, executables, deployment packages) will be stored. You can usually configure it to drop the build output to a network share or other accessible location.

Step 6: Manage and Monitor Builds: After setting up the build definition, you can monitor the build progress, view build logs, and investigate build failures. TFS provides detailed build history and dashboards to track the build process effectively.

By following these steps, you create a repeatable and automated process for building your software, ensuring consistency and reducing manual errors.

Source code branching strategies in TFS are crucial for managing concurrent development, feature isolation, and release management. Choosing the right strategy depends on your team’s size, project complexity, and release cadence. Here are a few common strategies:

• Main/Trunk-Based Development: This approach involves integrating all changes into a single main branch frequently. Features are developed in short-lived branches and merged back to the main branch as soon as possible. This simplifies integration and minimizes merge conflicts, but it requires a rigorous and disciplined integration process.
• Feature Branching: Each new feature is developed in its own branch. Once the feature is complete, it’s thoroughly tested and integrated into the main branch. This isolates development efforts, enabling parallel development of multiple features. However, it can lead to more merge conflicts if branches diverge for extended periods.
• Gitflow: A well-defined branching model based on Git, that uses multiple branches for various purposes like development, feature, release, and hotfix branches. This provides a structured approach for managing releases and hotfixes but can become complex for smaller projects.
• Release Branching: Once a stable version of the software is reached, a release branch is created. Bug fixes and minor updates are applied to this branch, ensuring that the release version remains stable. This prevents unstable development changes from affecting the released product.

Effective branching strategies require careful planning and enforcement to avoid conflicts, maintain code quality, and streamline the release process. Regular integration and thorough testing are vital regardless of the strategy chosen.

TFS provides powerful query capabilities to search and filter Work Items based on various criteria. These queries are essential for managing and analyzing project data. The primary types are:

• Simple Queries: These are easy to create and use, suitable for basic searches. You specify criteria like Work Item Type, State, Assigned To, etc., using a simple interface.
• Advanced Queries: Offer more complex filtering options using the powerful TFS query language, which allows using operators, wildcards, and other sophisticated techniques to define the filtering criteria. Think of it like using SQL to query a database.
• Shared Queries: These are saved queries that can be shared across your team or project, ensuring consistent search capabilities and facilitating collaboration. Team members can easily reuse frequently used queries without recreating them.
• Folder Queries: Queries that are organized into folders to better manage your list of queries and make them easier to find.

Example (Advanced Query): Let’s say you want to find all bugs assigned to John that are in a state of ‘Active’ and have a priority of ‘High’. In the TFS query language this could look something like:

By mastering these query types, you significantly improve your ability to track progress, manage workloads, and identify critical issues within your projects.

Shelvesets in TFS are a temporary storage location for your pending changes. Imagine it as a personal staging area where you can save your work in progress without checking it into the main code repository. This is particularly useful when you need to switch tasks, fix an urgent issue, or resolve a conflict without disturbing the main branch or affecting your team members.

Key Uses:

• Switching Tasks: If you’re working on a feature and need to switch to a bug fix, you can shelve your changes, work on the bug, and then unshelve your feature later.
• Resolving Conflicts: If you encounter a merge conflict, you can shelve your changes, resolve the conflict, and then unshelve your work.
• Sharing Work: You can share your shelveset with other team members if you need help with your changes or for them to review your progress.

Shelvesets are temporary; they don’t have the same version control history as checked-in changes. You need to explicitly unshelve your changes to integrate them into your local workspace or check them into the server’s version control repository.

Team Project Collections in TFS act as containers for multiple Team Projects. Think of it as organizing your projects into logical groups based on product lines, departments, or any other relevant categorization. Managing them effectively is crucial for maintaining a structured and organized TFS environment.

Configuration: Team Project Collections are created at the TFS server level. You need appropriate administrative privileges to create, modify, or delete them. Once created, they can be further customized to apply specific process templates, security settings, and other configurations.

Security: Security settings at the Collection level control access to all Team Projects within that collection. This allows you to easily manage permissions and access control for a group of related projects without having to do it individually for each project.

Process Templates: You can apply different process templates at the collection level, allowing you to adapt your development workflow based on the nature of the projects within the collection.

Best Practices:

• Logical Grouping: Organize projects logically based on their relationship, to aid in administration and access control.
• Consistent Configurations: If possible, use the same process template for similar projects within a collection for standardization.
• Regular Maintenance: Periodically check for inactive projects or collections and archive or delete them as needed to avoid clutter.

Proper management of Team Project Collections simplifies administration, improves security, and maintains a clear and well-organized TFS environment.

Gated check-in in TFS is a powerful feature that enforces code quality and prevents broken builds. It essentially acts as a gate that prevents code from being integrated into the main branch unless it passes a series of automated tests and validations. Think of it as a quality checkpoint before merging your changes into the shared code base.

Setup: You configure gated check-in at the branch level. You specify a build definition that runs automated tests and other validations whenever a developer attempts to check in changes. The build process can include various checks, such as compiling the code, running unit tests, and performing code analysis.

Workflow: When a developer attempts a gated check-in, TFS triggers the specified build. If the build passes all checks, the changes are automatically checked in. If the build fails, the check-in is rejected, and the developer receives notification of the failure. This allows them to address the issues before impacting the main branch.

Benefits:

• Improved Code Quality: By preventing broken builds, gated check-in helps maintain a higher level of code quality.
• Reduced Integration Issues: Fewer merge conflicts and less integration hassle.
• Early Issue Detection: Problems are identified early in the development cycle, improving response time.

However, it’s important to carefully balance the benefits with the potential delays caused by long build times. Fast and reliable automated tests are crucial for successful implementation of gated check-in.

Managing permissions and security in TFS is crucial for maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of your project data. It’s all about controlling who can access what, and what actions they can perform. Think of it like a well-guarded vault – you wouldn’t let just anyone walk in and take whatever they want! TFS achieves this through a robust system of groups and permissions.

At the core, you work with groups, which are collections of users. You then assign permissions to these groups, defining what each group can do within the TFS project. For example, you might have a ‘Developers’ group with permissions to check in code, create work items, and run builds, while a ‘Testers’ group might only have access to view work items and test results.

Permissions are granular, allowing fine-grained control. You can control access at different levels – for example, at the project level, folder level, or even individual file level within version control. You can also define permissions for specific actions, like creating branches or deleting files.

Example: Let’s say you have a sensitive component in your project. You could create a separate group, perhaps called ‘SensitiveComponentAccess’, and only grant specific developers access to that particular folder within the version control system.

Regularly reviewing and updating permissions is vital. As projects evolve, roles and responsibilities change, requiring adjustments to permissions to ensure security and efficiency.

Build agents are the workhorses of your TFS build process. Think of them as virtual workers that execute your build scripts and instructions. They’re the hands that actually compile your code, run tests, and package your application – all based on your defined build definition.

Each agent is a machine (physical or virtual) that has the necessary software and tools installed to build your project. This includes compilers, build tools (like MSBuild or Maven), and any dependencies your application requires. When you trigger a build, the TFS server assigns it to an available agent, and the agent then performs the tasks outlined in the build definition.

Types of Agents: You can have private agents, dedicated to your team and often hosted on your own servers, or you can use Microsoft-hosted agents, which are readily available and managed by Microsoft. The choice depends on your needs (security, customization, control).

Example: Your build definition includes steps to compile a C# application, run unit tests, and then package the application into a deployable .exe. The build agent will execute each of these steps sequentially, reporting the results back to TFS.

TFS supports various build types, each tailored to different project needs. The key is choosing the right type for your workflow and technology stack.

• CI (Continuous Integration) Builds: These are triggered automatically whenever code is checked into the version control repository. They ensure that all integrated code compiles and passes basic tests, catching integration issues early. Think of it as a ‘smoke test’ for your codebase after every change.
• CD (Continuous Delivery/Deployment) Builds: These builds go a step further than CI, automatically deploying the application to a staging or production environment after successful CI builds. This speeds up the release cycle and improves efficiency.
• Gated Check-in Builds: Before developers can check in their code, this type of build automatically runs a series of tests. Only if these tests pass will the code be checked in – a powerful way to maintain code quality.
• Scheduled Builds: These builds run on a predefined schedule, such as nightly or weekly, performing tasks like generating reports or deploying to a test environment.
• XAML Builds (Legacy): These builds were based on older XAML-based build definitions. While functional, they’re being phased out in favor of the newer build system.

The choice depends on your project requirements. A small team might only need CI builds, while a larger project might employ a combination of CI, CD, and gated check-in builds for optimal efficiency and quality control.

Integrating TFS with other tools is essential for a smooth and efficient workflow. While TFS offers many features, extending its capabilities through integrations boosts productivity.

Integration Methods: Several methods exist, depending on the tools and their APIs. Common approaches include:

• REST APIs: Many tools offer REST APIs, enabling you to exchange data programmatically. For example, you could use the TFS REST API to update work item statuses in TFS based on Jira ticket changes.
• Third-party extensions: Numerous extensions are available in the Visual Studio Marketplace to facilitate integrations. These extensions often provide user-friendly interfaces to connect TFS with other tools, simplifying the integration process.
• Custom integrations: For more complex scenarios, custom integration code might be necessary. This might involve developing scripts or applications to synchronize data between TFS and other systems.

Examples:

• TFS and Jira: You could use an extension or custom integration to link TFS work items to Jira issues, ensuring traceability between development tasks and project management activities.
• TFS and Jenkins: You could use Jenkins to trigger TFS builds or to integrate TFS’s build results into Jenkins’s reporting dashboard.

Proper planning and consideration of the integration method is crucial to prevent issues and maintain data consistency across different platforms.

TFS offers compelling advantages for version control, surpassing simpler methods.

• Centralized Repository: All code is stored in a central location, enabling seamless collaboration and preventing conflicts arising from multiple, independent copies of the code.
• Branching and Merging: Sophisticated branching and merging capabilities allow parallel development on multiple features without impacting the main codebase. This promotes agility and efficient workflow.
• History Tracking: A complete history of code changes, including who made the changes, when, and why, is maintained. This enables easy debugging and simplifies rollback to previous versions if needed.
• Access Control: Granular access control prevents unauthorized changes and ensures the integrity of the codebase.
• Collaboration Tools: TFS integrates seamlessly with other development tools and includes features to facilitate code reviews and collaboration.

Example: Imagine a team working on a large project. Using TFS, developers can work on different features simultaneously using branches, ensuring that their code changes don’t affect each other until they’re ready to merge into the main branch. This makes development quicker, more efficient, and less prone to errors.

Troubleshooting TFS issues requires a systematic approach. The key is to gather information, isolate the problem, and then apply the appropriate solution.

Common Issues and Troubleshooting Steps:

• Connection Problems: Check network connectivity, TFS server status, and client configuration. Verify that you’re using the correct server URL and credentials.
• Build Failures: Examine the build logs for detailed error messages. Investigate the build agent’s health and ensure it has the necessary software and resources.
• Version Control Issues: Check for pending changes or conflicts. Use the TFS command-line interface or the TFS Power Tool to investigate and resolve conflicts.
• Work Item Issues: If work items are not updating correctly or are missing data, review permissions, examine the work item tracking configuration, and try recreating the work item.
• Performance Issues: Analyze the TFS server logs for performance bottlenecks. Ensure sufficient resources (CPU, memory, disk space) are available on the server. Consider optimizing the TFS database.

Tools for Troubleshooting:

• TFS Logs: Examine the logs for errors and warnings to pinpoint the root cause of the issue.
• TFS Power Tools: These tools offer advanced commands and utilities for diagnosing and resolving TFS problems.
• Microsoft Support: Consult Microsoft’s documentation and support resources for known issues and solutions.

Remember, logging details helps you analyze the issue effectively and find solutions quicker, preventing future occurrences.

Work item tracking is the heart of TFS’s project management capabilities. It’s a systematic way to manage tasks, bugs, and other work items throughout the software development lifecycle. Think of it as a central hub where all project tasks and their statuses are recorded and tracked.

Key Aspects of Work Item Tracking:

• Work Item Types: TFS provides pre-defined work item types (e.g., tasks, bugs, user stories) but allows for customization. This allows teams to model their workflows precisely.
• Workflows: Work items typically follow a defined workflow, moving through different states (e.g., To Do, In Progress, Testing, Done) reflecting their progress.
• Fields and Attributes: Each work item contains information like title, description, assigned developer, priority, and status. These help with tracking and reporting.
• Queries and Reporting: TFS allows creating queries to find specific work items and generating reports to monitor progress and identify bottlenecks.
• Integration with Other Tools: Work items integrate with other TFS functionalities, such as builds and code reviews, providing traceability across all project activities.

Importance of Work Item Tracking:

Effective work item tracking provides enhanced transparency, improved collaboration, better control over project timelines and deliverables, and accurate progress reporting. It facilitates better project management, leading to higher quality outcomes and improved team efficiency.

TFS (now Azure DevOps Server) offers robust release management capabilities. You define your release process using pipelines, which are essentially automated workflows. These pipelines can encompass various tasks, such as building your application, running tests, deploying to different environments (development, testing, staging, production), and even performing database updates.

Think of it like an assembly line for software. Each stage in the pipeline represents a step in the release process, and each step is carefully defined and automated. For instance, you might have a stage that deploys your application to a testing environment, followed by a stage that runs automated UI tests, and finally a stage that deploys to production once all tests pass. This automated approach reduces manual effort and ensures consistency across releases.

Example: A typical release pipeline might involve building the application from source code, copying the build artifacts to a staging server, running integration tests, obtaining approval from a stakeholder, and then finally deploying to the production server. Any failures at any stage can trigger notifications and halt the process to prevent deployment of faulty code.

TFS also supports different deployment strategies, like blue-green deployments (having two identical environments, deploying to one while the other remains live, then switching) or canary deployments (deploying to a small subset of users to test before wider rollout), allowing you to choose the method best suited to your application and risk tolerance. Managing different environments and configuring approvals within the release pipeline offers control and traceability throughout the entire process.

TFS supports a range of testing types integrated into its lifecycle. This allows teams to implement a comprehensive testing strategy across various stages of the development process.

• Unit Testing: Developers write tests to verify individual units (modules or components) of code work correctly in isolation. TFS integrates with unit testing frameworks like MSTest, NUnit, and xUnit.
• Integration Testing: This checks how different units or modules interact with each other. TFS allows for the automated execution and reporting of integration tests.
• System Testing: This tests the entire system as a whole to ensure it meets the requirements. TFS can be used to manage and track system tests, potentially including manual tests.
• UI Testing (User Interface Testing): Automated UI testing tools can be integrated with TFS to verify the functionality and usability of the user interface. Tools like Selenium can be used in conjunction with TFS build pipelines.
• Load Testing: Tools like Visual Studio Load Test can be integrated to simulate user load and stress test the application’s performance under various conditions.
• Manual Testing: TFS provides tools for managing and tracking manual tests, allowing testers to log defects and track progress.

These testing types, when used together, provide a holistic view of software quality and greatly improve software reliability.

Monitoring the health and performance of your TFS server is crucial for ensuring smooth operation and preventing downtime. There are several strategies you can use:

• TFS Administration Console: This provides real-time insights into server health, including CPU usage, memory consumption, disk space, and database performance. Regularly checking this console helps identify potential bottlenecks early.
• Performance Counters: Windows Performance Monitor allows you to monitor specific performance counters relevant to TFS. You can set up alerts for thresholds being exceeded.
• Event Logs: Reviewing Windows event logs for errors or warnings related to TFS can help diagnose problems.
• Logging and Auditing: Configure appropriate logging levels within TFS to capture detailed information about server activity. This data helps in troubleshooting issues and analyzing server behavior.
• Regular Backups: Implementing a robust backup strategy is critical for data protection and disaster recovery.
• Health Checks (Azure DevOps Server): Azure DevOps Server provides built-in health checks that you can run to assess the overall health of the server and its components.

By proactively monitoring and addressing performance issues, you can maintain optimal TFS performance and minimize disruption to your team’s workflows. Regular reviews and proactive alerts are essential for preventing catastrophic failures.

Merge conflicts are inevitable when multiple developers work on the same codebase, especially when using branching strategies. TFS provides tools to help resolve these conflicts efficiently.

When a merge conflict arises, TFS highlights the conflicting changes in the code. You typically have three options:

• Manual Resolution: You’ll directly edit the conflicting code, choosing which changes to keep, discarding others, or combining them as needed. This is the most common approach requiring careful review and understanding of the conflicting changes.
• Accept Changes from Either Side: You can choose to accept either the changes from your branch or the changes from the target branch, essentially overwriting the conflicting sections. Use this carefully; it can lead to unintended consequences if not properly understood.
• Using a Merge Tool: TFS integrates with various merge tools (like Visual Studio’s built-in merge tool), offering a visual representation of the conflicts and improved resolution capabilities. These tools streamline the process, but understanding the code is still paramount.

Example: If two developers modify the same line of code in different branches, a merge conflict occurs. TFS will show both versions of the line, allowing you to choose which to keep or to create a new, combined version.

To mitigate merge conflicts, it’s helpful to: use shorter-lived branches, integrate frequently, and communicate effectively among team members.

TFS offers a wide variety of reports, providing insights into various aspects of your project’s progress and performance. These reports help you track velocity, identify bottlenecks, and improve overall team productivity.

• Work Item Reports: These reports show the status of work items (tasks, bugs, user stories), providing a comprehensive view of project progress.
• Build Reports: These reports provide details about builds, including build times, success rates, and any errors encountered.
• Code Coverage Reports: These reports show the percentage of code covered by unit tests, helping assess the completeness of testing efforts.
• Test Reports: These reports summarize test results, showing the number of tests executed, passed, failed, and the overall test coverage.
• Velocity Reports: These reports track the team’s progress over time, measuring the amount of work completed within each sprint (in Agile development). This helps in sprint planning and resource allocation.
• Custom Reports: Using Reporting Services, you can create custom reports tailored to your specific needs.

These reports help stakeholders track progress, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions regarding the project.

Migrating data from one TFS server to another can be a complex process. The approach depends on the versions of TFS involved and the scale of the data. However, the general steps usually involve:

1. Backup the Source Server: Before starting the migration, thoroughly back up the source TFS server to prevent data loss.
2. Prepare the Destination Server: Set up the new TFS server with the desired configuration and ensure it has sufficient resources.
3. Choose a Migration Method: You can use the built-in TFS migration tools (if version compatibility allows) or third-party tools specialized in TFS migration. These tools often provide options for migrating specific data types or a full copy.
4. Execute the Migration: Run the chosen migration tool, specifying the source and destination servers. This process might take a considerable amount of time, depending on the data size.
5. Validate the Migration: After the migration completes, verify the integrity and completeness of the migrated data on the destination server.
6. Test the Environment: Thoroughly test the migrated environment to ensure everything functions correctly.
7. Update Client Configurations: Finally, update the client tools (like Visual Studio) to point to the new server address.

Migrating TFS data should be meticulously planned and executed. Testing after migration is essential to identify and fix any issues. Always prioritize data integrity during the migration process.

TFS is a powerful tool for Agile project management, providing the framework and tools to support iterative development and collaboration. Its features facilitate the implementation of various Agile methodologies like Scrum and Kanban.

• Work Item Tracking: TFS allows you to create and track various work items (user stories, tasks, bugs), supporting the Agile principle of breaking down work into smaller, manageable chunks.
• Sprints and Kanban Boards: TFS allows teams to utilize sprints (in Scrum) or Kanban boards for visualizing workflow and managing tasks.
• Backlogs: TFS helps maintain prioritized backlogs, facilitating sprint planning and release management.
• Daily Scrums: Although TFS doesn’t directly support daily scrum meetings, it provides the data and visualization tools to effectively prepare for and follow up on them.
• Reporting and Analytics: TFS’s reporting capabilities provide insights into team velocity, burndown charts (showing work remaining), and other metrics essential for Agile process improvement.
• Team Collaboration: TFS enhances team collaboration through integrated communication and task assignment features.

By providing tools for planning, tracking, and reporting, TFS streamlines the Agile development lifecycle, promoting transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.

The TFS Administration Console is your central hub for managing and configuring your Team Foundation Server. Think of it as the control panel for your entire project management and version control system. It allows you to perform crucial tasks, impacting everything from user access and security to server settings and database maintenance.

• User Management: Add, remove, and modify user accounts, granting specific permissions to different team members based on their roles (e.g., developer, tester, project manager).
• Security Settings: Control access to various TFS components, ensuring only authorized personnel can access sensitive data or perform administrative actions. This includes setting permissions at the server, project, and even individual work item level.
• Project Collection Management: Create, delete, and manage project collections, which group related projects together. This helps in organizing large-scale development efforts.
• Server Settings: Configure server-wide settings like email notifications, alerts, and various other system-wide parameters influencing the behavior of the TFS server.
• Reporting & Analysis: Access and manage reporting services, allowing administrators to generate custom reports about team performance, work item progress, and code quality metrics.
• Backup and Restore: Create regular backups of your TFS database to protect your valuable data and ensure business continuity in case of unforeseen circumstances.

For example, I once used the Administration Console to troubleshoot a permissions issue where a developer couldn’t access a specific project. By meticulously reviewing the security settings within the console, I identified the problem, reassigned the necessary permissions, and quickly resolved the issue, minimizing downtime for the team.

Areas and Iterations in TFS are crucial for organizing and tracking work within a project. They essentially provide a hierarchical structure for managing tasks and visualizing progress over time.

Areas: Think of areas as broad categories that group related work items. They represent different components, modules, or even departments within a project. For instance, a project might have areas like “Frontend,” “Backend,” and “Database.” This helps to partition the project logically.

Iterations: These represent time periods or sprints during the project’s lifecycle. Each iteration focuses on delivering a specific set of features or functionality. For example, you might have iterations named “Sprint 1,” “Sprint 2,” “Sprint 3,” etc., each typically lasting 2-4 weeks.

Together, Areas and Iterations provide a powerful way to organize and filter work items. You can easily see all work items related to the “Frontend” area within “Sprint 2.” This is vital for tracking progress, assigning resources efficiently, and ensuring accountability.

Imagine building a house. Areas could represent different parts like “Foundation,” “Framing,” and “Plumbing.” Iterations could be the phases of construction: “Week 1,” “Week 2,” etc. This helps track progress on each part of the house during the building process.

Customizing work item types in TFS allows you to tailor the system to your specific development process and project needs. This involves modifying existing work item types (like ‘Task,’ ‘Bug,’ ‘User Story’) or creating entirely new ones.

The customization is primarily done through the TFS process template editor (usually a XML-based file). You can modify the fields, add new fields, change field types, control workflow transitions, and alter the layout of the work item form. For example, you could add a field for “Priority” to a ‘Bug’ work item, or create a new work item type called “Technical Debt” with specific fields relevant to tracking technical debt issues.

Steps to customize a work item type:

1. Export the process template: Obtain the process template XML file for the process you’re using.
2. Edit the XML: Modify the XML to add, remove, or alter fields, workflows, and layouts. This requires a deep understanding of the XML schema.
3. Import the updated process template: Import the modified XML file into your TFS project collection. This will update the work item types across the projects in the collection.

Example (XML snippet – illustrative):

This snippet adds a custom field named “Custom.Severity” to the existing ‘Bug’ work item type. Careful planning and testing are essential before making changes, as incorrect modifications could disrupt your workflow.

TFS supports code reviews through various mechanisms, primarily leveraging its version control system (usually Git or TFVC) and work item tracking capabilities. The most common approach involves creating a pull request (in Git) or a shelveset (in TFVC).

Using Pull Requests (Git): When a developer completes a set of changes, they create a pull request, essentially proposing their changes to the main branch. Other team members can then review the code changes, leave comments, and provide feedback directly within the pull request. Once the review is complete and approved, the changes are merged into the main branch.

Using Shelvesets (TFVC): In TFVC, developers can create shelvesets, which are essentially temporary storage areas for their pending code changes. These shelvesets can then be shared with other developers for review. The reviewers can check out the shelveset, inspect the code, and provide feedback. Once the review is done, the changes can be checked in.

In both cases, you can link the code review activity to work items, allowing you to track the review process as part of the overall project management workflow. This helps in ensuring accountability and traceability of the code changes.

For instance, I’ve frequently used pull requests for code reviews. It allows for easy collaboration and commenting, and the visual diff makes identifying changes straightforward. Linking the pull request to the relevant user story or bug ensures the code review is formally documented and tied to the overall project task list.

While Azure DevOps is the successor to TFS, inheriting many of its features, there are key differences.

• Deployment Model: TFS was an on-premises solution requiring installation and maintenance on your own servers. Azure DevOps is a cloud-based service hosted by Microsoft, eliminating the need for on-premises infrastructure and simplifying deployment and maintenance.
• Scalability and Availability: Azure DevOps offers better scalability and availability due to Microsoft’s robust cloud infrastructure. TFS scalability depends on the resources dedicated to your on-premises server.
• Cost: TFS has upfront costs for hardware, software licenses, and maintenance. Azure DevOps uses a subscription-based model, making it more cost-effective for smaller teams or projects, though costs can increase significantly for large deployments.
• Integration: Azure DevOps integrates more seamlessly with other Microsoft cloud services like Azure and Office 365. TFS integration requires more manual configuration and may be limited depending on the services used.
• Features: While core features remain largely the same, Azure DevOps consistently adds new features and integrations more quickly than TFS ever did. TFS updates were released less frequently.

In essence, Azure DevOps provides the same core functionalities as TFS but with enhanced scalability, accessibility, and ease of use, leveraging the advantages of cloud computing. The choice between them often boils down to budget, infrastructure needs, and desired level of control over the environment.

I have extensive experience with TFS build automation, primarily using Team Build (in older TFS versions) and Azure DevOps Pipelines (in more recent projects). I’m proficient in configuring build definitions, defining build processes, and integrating various build tools.

My experience encompasses setting up continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) pipelines. This involves:

• Defining build agents: Configuring agents capable of executing build tasks on various platforms (Windows, Linux, macOS).
• Creating build definitions: Defining the steps involved in building the application, including source code retrieval, compilation, testing, and packaging.
• Implementing build triggers: Setting up triggers to initiate builds automatically on code changes (CI) or on a schedule.
• Integrating build tools: Integrating build tools such as MSBuild, Maven, Gradle, npm, etc., to automate the building process.
• Setting up deployment pipelines: Configuring the steps to deploy the built application to various environments (development, testing, production).

In a recent project, I implemented a CI/CD pipeline that automated the build, testing, and deployment of a web application. This resulted in a significant reduction in deployment time and improved the overall quality of the software through automated testing at each stage of the process. The use of automated builds significantly reduced the manual effort previously involved in releasing software updates.

I’m familiar with several TFS APIs, including the Team Foundation Server Object Model (TFSOm), the REST APIs (now part of the Azure DevOps REST APIs), and the various client libraries available for different programming languages.

Team Foundation Server Object Model (TFSOm): This is a .NET-based API that provides access to TFS data and functionality through C# or VB.NET code. It’s very powerful for interacting with TFS from within .NET applications, allowing tasks like creating work items, querying version control, and managing builds programmatically.

Azure DevOps REST APIs: These APIs are crucial for interacting with Azure DevOps services, and provide a language-agnostic way to interact with TFS (Azure DevOps Server) and Azure DevOps Services. I’ve used these to build tools and integrations with various systems, leveraging the flexibility of HTTP requests and JSON responses.

Client Libraries: Various client libraries are available for different programming languages to simplify interacting with the REST APIs, including libraries for Python, Java, Node.js, etc. I’ve utilized these libraries in various projects to expedite development and manage different components more efficiently.

For example, I’ve used the REST APIs to build a custom dashboard that displays real-time data from TFS, such as build status, work item progress, and code quality metrics. This allowed for a tailored and informative overview not provided by the standard TFS dashboard.