Azure DevOps is a cloud-based software development life cycle management service provided by Microsoft. Today, it is one of the most popular project management tools used by developers around the world. It is widely used to manage, build, deploy, and test applications.
It promotes collaboration among teams and offers new ways to unify developers, project managers, and contributors to develop software. Azure DevOps allows for speedier and more efficient ways of working, when compared to more traditional process of software development.
Powerful DevOps tools
Azure DevOps services can be customised and enhanced as developers see fit. For developers that work with Java, Node or Microsoft .NET, or those that work in Jenkins, Ansible, or Puppet, Azure DevOps can work together with these in tandem. It offers collaboration tools such as customisable team dashboards with custom widgets to display information, trends, and progress. There is also an option to create documentation via wikis to pull information together in a central location.
Azure DevOps can be fitted with extensions and can work with other services including Trello, Slack, Campfire, UserVoice, and more. It’s also easy to develop custom extensions for specific requirements. Here are a few key Azure DevOps features:
Azure Boards
Azure Boards offers a range of tools that helps teams keep track of development features in Agile process. The tools include Kanban boards, backlogs, sprints, queries, and plans. Users can generate reports, track issues, and add code defects.
Azure Repos
Source code version control important for any software project to keep track of different versions and changes in the code. Azure Repos provides version control tools hosted in Azure cloud and includes free unlimited private Git repos.
Azure Pipelines
Azure Pipelines provides build and release services for software development teams. It supports building, testing, and deploying Node.js, Python, Java, PHP, Ruby, C/C++, .NET, Android, and iOS apps. It can also run in parallel on Linux, macOS, and Windows. It supports containers and Kubernetes to ensure teams can easily build and push images to container registries like Docker Hub and Azure Container Registry.
Azure Test Plans
Azure Test Plans are used for testing software and for QA teams to create test cases, test and report results, and generate reports. It also has options for manual testing and continuous testing.
Azure Artifacts
Azure Artifacts is a tool that lets teams share packages such as Maven, npm, NuGet, and others, from public and private sources and integrate package sharing into CI/CD pipelines.