We are going to applying VSTS 2010 in our company. This includes Visual Studio, TFS, TFS Build and ALM. It's predictable that we would encounter a wave of new questions about their usage.
But the problem is I don't know which places we could do questioning. StackOverflow is programming base question site and ServerFault is not very active. How do you think about? Which places and their advantages and disadvantages?
afsharm
You could ask your questions here, there is already a handful of question on tfs, visual-studio and msbuild.
You could also ask on Team System forum MSDN. (Or both)
We are trying to start a Visual Studio ALM community on Stack Exchange that is dedicated to these questions.
If you want to join in you can Commit to the Visual Studio ALM proposal.
Whilst you wait for the ALM site to get to beta these sites/blogs might help you:
The WoodwardWeb this is a very useful site for me.
Brian Harrys TFS blog
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I use Microsoft Visual SourceSafe for version control. I would like to change this approach and use newer software for this work. What are the differences between these three applications? Which one is better?
Are these solutions integrated with visual studio?
TFS is an Application Life-cycle Management solution, SVN and Git are source control only.
TFS does source control as well as issue tracking, document management, reporting, continuous integration, virtual labs for testing etc.
TFS's Source Control & SVN are centralized source control, Git is distributed.
There have been many discussion on Stackoverflow about TFS vs SVN.
TFS is the most tightly integrated into Visual Studio.
SVN has a few third party options for integrating into Visual Studio and they are quite nice, but not as tightly integrated as TFS.
Git has GitExtensions which allows for a low level of integration within Visual Studio.
Better is a big discussion, but along the same lines you have to factor in cost.
SVN is free, where as TFS isn't. However; if you have your Visual Studio through an MSDN subscription and this is of high enough level, then you will get TFS2010 for free through your MSDN subscription downloads when released. This may be a factor which tips the balance.
As for the integration with Visual Studio, you can't beat Team Explorer for TFS. However, I have used Anhk with SVN and that works well too. I think the rest of this has been said :-)
Hope this helps.
The question is rather old, however in case someone stumbles on it: since January 2013, git has been integrated into TFS (announcement: http://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/news/2013-jan-30-vso#git support). What it means is that the team can now use git as the source control tool (instead of, but not alongside, the "built-in" TFS version control system) while still using the rest of TFS for activities such as continuous integration, issues tracking, and so on.
Original discussion on MSDN: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudioalm/archive/2013/01/30/getting-started-with-git-in-visual-studio-and-team-foundation-service.aspx
StackOverflow has a large set of relevant discussions (https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=tfs+git), cannot point to anything specific.
I can only speak to Visual Studio integration for SVN. I've used both VisualSVN and AnkhSVN. They both have pretty tight integration and allow you to perform various operations from the Solution Explorer menu the way you would have normally done it with VSS. Version 2+ of Ankh (one I currently use) has been very stable for me and worlds better than the older versions.
This looks like a fairly detailed discussion of using Git with Visual Studio.
This is in addition to the other answers, not a full answer as Michael Shimmins satisfied most of what I would say
TFS (especially 2010) is incredibly approachable for implementing source control techniques that you would have been terribly hard-pressed to execute with VSS. Branching and merging is much easier with TFS than SVN to start and follow over time. I would say the same thing about Git from an user interaction perspective, but those tools are getting better slowly.
Git is a great tool if you spend the ramp up time and the techniques that community take as standard practice are well worth the effort in any version control system. You're still going to run into conflicts with SLN and CSProj/VBProj files in teams of > 2. This is a result of the way those files are structured and managed.
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As you all know Visual Studio Express edition do not support Source Control Integration and Add in
As it is obvious there is a feature which allows VS tointegrate with any kind of source control. So I'm using VS express for myself (in home, and for my presonal Project and want to use a source control for my projects) So what should I Do
Currently I'm using SVN and by Command Prompt using svn, but I want to create an Add-In for VS Express edition which works with VS Express.
Any help will Appriciate.
Update : An example for doing this is to write an application which run beside of VS and by refactoring find the Items and make them capable to work with a sourcecontrol inside of VS express
your solution may be completely different
As Sam said, you can't write an Add-on. In my opinion, the best add-in for the full Visual Studio is AnkhSVN and they have not been able to create one either.
So I would recommend looking at Tortoise SVN instead. It is a complete, mature and Free GUI SVN client, implemented as a Windows Explorer extension. If you can't integrate into Visual Studio Express, this is the next best thing.
Microsoft's Dan Fernandez from the Visual Studio team does discuss on his blog how TestDriven.NET managed to work around the restrictions in the Express Editions.
I recommend against trying this for practical and ethical reasons, but the information is out there, so this answer would not be complete without it.
I don't think you can as the express editions don't support Add-ins. See this question for some more details
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I'm considering using SVN for my .Net projects, and I'd like to know what plugins are available for integrating the source control capabilities directly into the Visual Studio IDE.
I already know about the following Visual Studio extensions:
VisualSVN, which seems great but is not free. It is implemented as a low-level VS package extension. Is anyone using it?
AnkhSVN, which is free but I've heard it's a bit buggy. It is implemented as a VS add-in extension. Is anyone using it? are you experiencing problems? Edit: The 2.0 version is a complete rewrite and seems to solve the problem I've heard about (which were related to the 1.x versions)
Edit : TortoiseSVN + Mindscape's FileExplorer VS Extension, which is not a real IDE integration but somewhat eases the use of TortoiseSVN from Visual Studio.
Edit : I've found a few comparison posts between AnkhSVN and VisualSVN here, here and here.
I've used AnkhSVN for the past year and I've never had a problem with it. I switch between that and TFS and some of the times I think I prefer AnkhSVN to TFS.
I use VisualSVN and it works great, but you're correct, it's not free. No experience with Ankh here.
Early versions (1.X) of AnkhSVN were pretty unstable. Latest builds (v2.0.x) work as a native VisualStudio source control provider and it's very stable. I would recommend you to just download and try it yourself.
I also use AnkhSVN and it does work OK but I tend to drop to the file system to work with TortoiseSVN. For some reason I feel safer using Tortoise. I think that come's from concerns about Visual Studio than it is AnkhSsvn.
I tried AnkhSVN, but didn't like it. It tried to do too many things automatically and behind the scenes (e.g. adding files to SVN). I prefer if I see exactly what happens.
Now I mainly use TortoiseSVN (outside Visual Studio) or sometimes Mindscape VS FileExplorer in Visual Studio (which is available for free).
Note: VS FileExplorer plugin simply displays a file explorer in VS and allows you to invoke TortoiseSVN from there (and it also displays the TortoiseSVN overlay icons).
Update:
I reinstalled the current version of AnkhSVN 2.0.5250 and tried to reproduce the problems described above in a sample solution.
Result: AnkhSVN did exactly what I expected. I was not able to reproduce any of the problems. I think it might be time to give AnkhSVN another try at work!
Update 2:
I have now used AnkhSVN for some days, and I have to say it works very well. It's a big improvement compared to the previous version (1.x).
I use AnkhSVN and haven't had any issues worth complaining about. Sometimes (about 1 in 10 times?) I do get a strange nondescript error trying to commit, but restarting VS has always fixed the problem.
Edit: The error actually seems to be coming from the dataset designer, not AnkhSVN. Sometimes I get an error where it tries to "read or write to protected memory", which then just continues until I restart VS. Sorry for the confusion.
I have used both AnkhSVN and VisualSVN each for about 6 months. I prefer VisualSVN for one reason alone: Compatibility.
At my work, we keep our Subversion server and TortoiseSVN software very up-to-date (some people just go with one version and stick with it for years, but that's not our style). With new versions sometimes comes new working copy formats and it seems that AnkhSVN is very slow to adapt these new formats. What happens at this point is AnkhSVN completely breaks:
All the source files appear as "Added" even though they are all committed.
We are no longer able to Commit. An error appears claiming it does not recognize the new format.
VisualSVN has been "on the ball" in this respect as we have never had any compatibility issues with their software. This factor alone easily swayed me toward VisualSVN.
The Agent SVN plug-in does a good job of integrating Subversion and Visual Studio, but it too is not free.
Another vote for visual SVN. To be honest, I think its just me being lazy. I could do everything visual svn does with just using tortoise, but it saves me from switching between programs. The color coded warning lights you get with visual svn are nice, but not that big a deal.
I use VisualSvn and it's fine. It wasn't expensive and it helps make sure you include all files you've added to the solution. It's not so good when using locking in svn (but then svn isn't great at locking files). If you want to edit a file that has needs-lock set, it will automatically update it when you lock it (sensible), but that could end up doing an update when you dont want it too.
I've got into trying Svn Monitor too and am happy with that, but it does seem to grind my computer to a halt.
I've tried old versions of ANKH but got in a mess and corrupted the svn repository (I suspect that was version 1.x) so I'd guess later versions are better.
I use VisualSVN, and love it. It may not be free but I found it extremely reliable, very well integrated, and very much worth the $49 per license. By setting up a few key-bindings comitting and updating become almost second-nature to my entire team (most of whom had no previous SVN/SCC experience).
Being able to quickly scan the solution explorer to see which files had changed was very useful for keeping tabs on things for writing status reports and the like (but that's probably specific to my overly beurocratic manager).
The "Checkout Solution from SVN" feature was great for quickly getting the summer student interns setup and giving them a gentle introduction to version control. Again, this is probably specific to our needs so may not be of interest to you.
So a thumbs-up for VisualSVN and the convenience it gives us.
My experience with working with AnkhSVN is better than tortoise but it still has a lot of flaws that you really don't get with native Visual Studio plugins like Source Safe, TFS, Dynamic soft. It has real problems with the .svn folders and synchronising so you end up spending a portion of your time removing the .svn folder and starting again.
That's my experience. One example is moving a folder from one project (in the same solution) to another project. It breaks on this from the working set being different. The solution is to go into the folder and remove the .svn files but it seems like a a lot of effort.
I'm use to it being a mirror of my filesystem though, and basic 2 developer branches of files.
The AnkhSVN plug-in is not too bad.
I use vsTortoise.
It works very nice especially when you are familiar with TortoiseSVN and it's free.
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Can anyone recommend any good add-ons or plugins for Microsoft Visual Studio?
Freebies are preferred, but if it is worth the cost then that's fine.
SmartPaster - (FREE) Copy/Paste code generator for strings
AnkhSvn - (FREE) SVN Source Control Integration for VS.NET
VisualSVN Server - (FREE) Source Control
ReSharper - IDE enhancement that helps with refactoring and productivity
CodeRush - Code gen macros on steroids
Refactor - Code refactoring aid
CodeMaid (FREE) - Code cleanup, organization and complexity analysis
CodeSmith - Code Generator
GhostDoc - (FREE) Simple code commenting tool
DXCore (FREE) and its many awesome plugins: DxCore Community Plugins, CR_Documentor, CodeStyleEnforcer, RedGreen
TestDriven.Net - (FREE/PAY) Unit Testing Aid
Reflector - (PAY) Feature rich .Net Disassembler Reflector AddIn's
Web Deployment Projects - Provides additional functionality to build and deploy Web sites and Web applications (source).
StudioTools - (FREE) Navigation assistant, code metrics tool, incremental search, file explorer in visual studio and tear off editor windows. Moved from old site (archive.org) to new site and discontinued.
Not free, but ReSharper is definitely one recommendation.
Whole Tomato's Visual Assist X. I absolutely swear by it. I would like to see a better plug in for Lint than Visual Lint by Riverblade, but since that will eventually be moved onto the build server I don't mind running it every couple of days manually.
PowerCommands is a Microsoft-created plugin that offers a variety of new features that one would think probably should have been in Visual Studio in the first place.
These include
Copying/Pasting project references!
"Open Containing Folder" to jump straight to the hard-drive location of a file or project
Automatic reorganizig and sorting of using statements
"Open Command Prompt Here" to open a command prompt in any of your project folders.
Collapse Projects
RockScroll is awesome, and free.
Addendum
As #Andrei points out, MetalScroll is a better alternative. It's Open Source, and corrects some annoying things about RS.
I'm a big fan of CodeRush and Refactor! Pro by DevExpress. I've been using them for a number of years, and without a doubt it makes me a faster developer. Also, both are built on a free framework called DXCore that allows you to develop your own plug-ins for Visual Studio, and the sky is the limit there...
Resharper
Resharper MbUnit Test Runner Add-On
SQL Prompt for Database Projects (works inside your SQL Management Studio as well)
Ankh SVN 2.0+ for free SVN support (v1.x pales in comparison)
TeamCity plug-in to monitor your builds, personal builds, and bug tracking
I find Ghost Doc to be very useful.
GhostDoc is a free add-in for Visual Studio that automatically generates XML
documentation comments for C#. Either by using existing documentation inherited
from base classes or implemented interfaces, or by deducing comments from
name and type of e.g. methods, properties or parameters.
If you use SVN for source control, definitely get VisualSVN. It enables TortoiseSVN interactions from within the Visual Studio IDE.
I also echo the Resharper comment. Retail price is a little steep, but if you're a student or otherwise educationally affiliated, it's actually pretty cheap.
+1 Visual Assist.
It's unfortunate that you need a plugin to get really good intellisense but it's definitely worth paying for.
LinqPad is great for testing linq to objects/xml/sql. Free download.
What about IncrediBuild? This is a nice distributed build system with visual studio integration.
Clipboard Manager
Maintains your clipboard data through removal of lines, a few other nice items but that one alone makes me happy.
Regionerate
While some have problems with regions I think if you use them, this tool is for you. Automatically region'izes your code into appropriate region blocks. Fully configurable for custom items etc.
VSCommands 2010
from the website:
Latest version supports:
Manage Reference Paths
Prevent accidental Drag & Drop in Solution Explorer
Prevent accidental linked file delete
Apply Fix (automatically fix build errors/warnings)
Open PowerShell
Show Assembly Details
Create Code Contract
Cancel Build when first project fails
Debug Output - custom formatting
Build Output - custom formatting
Search Output - custom formatting
Configure WPF Rendering
Configure Fusion Logs
Configure IE for debugging
Locate Source File
Thumbnails in IDE Navigator
Extended support for xaml, aspx, css, js and html files
Disable Ctrl + Mouse Wheel Zoom
Zoom to Mouse Pointer
Configurability
Attach to local IIS
Copy Full Path
Build Startup Projects
Open Command Prompt
Search Online
Build Statistics
Group linked items
Copy/Paste Reference
Copy/Paste as Link
Collapse Solution
Group items directly from user interface (DependantUpon)
Open In Expression Blend
Locate in Solution
Edit Project File
Edit Solution File
Show All Files
and others, so try it now!
http://trolltech.com/products/qt/">Qt Cross-Platform Application Framework
Qt is a cross-platform application framework for desktop and embedded development. It includes an intuitive API and a rich C++ class library, integrated tools for GUI development and internationalization, and support for Java™ and C++ development
They have a plug-in for Visual Studio that costs a bit of money, but it is worth every penny.
I've been using Visual Assist X for nearly two years now, and I find it so useful I can honestly say that if my employer didn't provide it, I'd have to pay for it myself.
I also use Cool Commands and SlickEdit (the free version), whose File Explorer and Command Spy tools are quite useful.
+1 for Visual Assist
And I will add VLH (Visual Local History) which provides a kind of local source control system. Every time you save a file, the plugin add a copy in the local repository.
ViEmu
vi/vim support inside VS
I found this site called Visual Studio Gallery - it has a lot of visual studio add-ins. I'm browsing it right now and I recommend everyone to visit it.
Consolas font
Free font from MS designed for reading code.
Try MetalScroll!! It's better than Rockscroll
Sonic File Finder for when you have loads of files in your solutions and searching for them in the solution explorer becomes a pain in the wrist.
You might also find DPack interesting. Several tools and enhancements rolled into one neat package.
MZTools is great too.
+1 for CodeRush & Refactor Pro. I've been using CodeRush since its Delphi incarnations, and it's utterly wonderful. The mantra of "Code at the speed of thought" is very close to reality ;)
Microsoft StyleCop provides code style checking for C#, we use it all the time and love it (free)
Axialis IconWorkshop has a Visual Studio add-in which is now free for VS2008 users.
Resharper Yes another vote, because I can't upvote everyone who suggests it :)
Workspace Whiz for C++, I used to live by Workspace Whiz but haven't used it in VS2008 as I hadn't realised there was an update. Will have to give it a try again.
If you're doing C++ coding, hands down Visual Assist.
I love CopySourceAsToHTML as a cool little addin. It's great if you want to copy code blocks for blogging and the like while maintaining your syntax formatting.
I think this is still the url.. you have to do some manual work to set it up with 08.
http://www.jtleigh.com/people/colin/software/CopySourceAsHtml/
For the laptop bound or for those with vi/vim key bindings burned into the brain I would recommend ViEmu.
If you have not tried editing with vi key bindings here is why you may want to try "Why, oh WHY, do those #?#! nutheads use vi?"
AtomineerUtils Pro Documentation - automatic DocXml/Doxygen/JavaDoc/Qt doc-comment generation/updating (similar to GhostDoc, but more powerful & flexible, and supports C#, C++, C++/CLI, C, Java and Visual Basic code).
The style of the generated comments is very configurable, and automatic re-formatting (such as whitespace control and word wrapping) can be optionally applied to keep the comments as readable as possible. It also has many helpers to allow users to read and convert most legacy doc-comments into any of the above formats.
(I'm the author, but I believe the above is an accurate and objective description. This add-in was free when this answer was first added, but to cover the costs of hosting, supporting, and continuing to improve the addin in monthly releases, it is now $10 with a 30-day free trial)
I'm always amazed that more people don't know about/use NDepend - it shows all dependencies at every level of your code, and will even draw pretty box and arrow pictures showing how confused your architecture really is :) Together with TestDriven.Net, I can't imagine working without it any more. Free/cheap.