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Team Foundation Server 2008 in Action: Review (Part 5 of 5)

Continued from part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4, where we discussed chapters 1-8. In this post we will review chapters 9-10 of the exciting new book titled "Team Foundation Server 2008 in Action", ISBN: 1933988592, authored by Jamil Azher.

Chapter 9 - "Configuring and Extending TFS"

The chapter introduces a bit of the planning we queried in previous blog posts and describes some common limitations (many of which have been resolved in TFS2008 and TFS2008 SP1). The scenarios covered include moving team projects, load balancing, customised work items and creating key performance indicators (KPI). The latter is very interesting to those that have project leads and/or managers who want to define KPIs ... again demonstrated with re-usable examples. Obviously there are many, many other scenarios that could or should be included, but then there is only so much an author can fit within the book and chapter constraints set by the publishers.

Chapter 10 - "Using Workflow with TFS"

Although  not really relevant to our current TFS environment, this section was an interesting introduction to Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) and the integration with Team Foundation Server (TFS) to  manage distributed builds. Definitely an interesting read, packed with many code samples.

Wish List and Queries for the author / publisher

My personal wish list to the author and the publisher to date, whereby I will carry over the list to the next posts and indicate new additions in italic.

1. Include a summary of the option "defaults", for the various options discussed in the chapter. This would allow the reader to go to the table summarising the options, rather than having to trawl entire sections looking for the option description.
2. Use or refer to many of the illustrations and quick-reference posters created by many TFS specialists and MVPs. The quick reference posters that would be appropriate for the first two sections include:
   • 0202 Microsoft Team System Build Process
   • 0202 Microsoft Team System Editions 2008
   • 0202 Microsoft Team System Environments
   • 0202 Microsoft Team System Licensing Overview
   • 0202 Microsoft Team System Planning
   • 0202 Microsoft Team System Project Capacity Planning 2008
   • 0202 Microsoft Team System Project Planning
3. At this stage the book is missing the section that I looked for immediately and believe is one of the most important sections of any TFS book, namely planning a TFS deployment, including capacity planning, team planning, source control planning, branching and dependency planning and licensing planning.
4. Add line numbers to the source examples, making it easier to reference the line number in the text. This avoids the reader having to read through pages of source, to find a specific property referenced in the text. For example the source file "team build script modified to label only branch-specific files" and the referenced url "http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181737(VS.80).aspx" have anomalies and line numbers would probably assist in the cross-mapping of text and source,
5. Move the DB Pro chapter to the end of the book, because it seems to sit in-between TFS focused chapters ... if DP Pro gets a mention, why do the other editions not receive similar focused attention?
6. Use the branching guidance II diagram look&feel, which will make the branching diagrams more intuitive and use a look&feel which we will be sharing on CodePlex soon.
7. TLA glossary ... TLA = three lettered acronyms would be invaluable.
8. The title for Chapter 5 is misleading ... can it be changed?
9. Ensure that the book, as indicated by the title, is primarily focused on TFS2008, not TFS2005 features, guidelines and problems.
10. Add a bit of explanation to the reams of code in chapter 10, remembering point 4 above. Pages and ages of code and configuration files are hard to absorb in a book and therefore more verbose description thereof and line number, for easy references, would be beneficial.

Conclusion

Writing a technology book is challenging, because the author is continuously enhancing and updating his manuscript to match the latest technology, something that is evident in this book with focus on TFS2005, TFS2008 and the need to focus on the latest enhancements shipped with TFS 2008 SP1.

The book presents information and practical example code. It complements other publications, such as Professional Team Foundation Server, by David, Gousset and Gundvaldson, very well, making it an invaluable companion and reference book for anyone involved with Team Foundation Server. Obtain a copy of this book for your personal library if you either want to learn more about Team Foundation Server or add a real asset to your collection of TFS/VSTS literature.