A Beginners Guide to Azure Repos

If you’re a developer, you know that managing your codebase and coordinating with your team can be a complex and time-consuming task. That’s where Azure Repos comes in. Azure Repos is a version control system (VCS) that is part of the Azure DevOps suite of tools. It allows you to store your code in a central repository, track changes to your code, and collaborate with your team. In this article, we’ll take a look at the basics of Azure Repos and how you can use it to streamline your development workflow.

To start, let’s define some terms. A repository (or “repo”) is a central location where you store your code and track changes to it. Each project you work on will typically have its own repository. Within a repository, you can create branches to work on different features or fix bugs. When you’re ready to merge your changes back into the main branch, you can create a pull request (PR) and have your team review and approve the changes before they are merged.

Azure Repos provides a number of features to help you manage your codebase and collaborate with your team. Here are a few key features to be aware of:

• Version control: Azure Repos uses Git as its VCS, which means you can track changes to your code and revert to previous versions if needed. You can also create branches to work on different features or fix bugs, and use pull requests to review and merge changes.
• Collaboration: Azure Repos provides a number of tools to help you collaborate with your team, including code review, discussion threads, and integration with other Azure DevOps tools such as Azure Boards and Azure Test Plans.
• Security: Azure Repos provides a number of security features to protect your codebase, including role-based access control, secure connections, and auditing.
• Integration: Azure Repos integrates with a number of other tools and platforms, including Visual Studio, Eclipse, and Jenkins, making it easy to incorporate into your existing workflow.

Getting Started With Azure Repos

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s take a look at how you can get started with Azure Repos.

1. Create a Azure DevOps organization: The first step is to create an Azure DevOps organization. This will give you access to all of the Azure DevOps tools, including Azure Repos.
2. Create a project: Next, you’ll need to create a project within your organization. This will be the top-level container for your codebase and other assets.
3. Create a repository: Once you’ve created a project, you can create a repository within it. This will be the central location where you store your code and track changes to it.
4. Clone the repository: To start working with your code, you’ll need to clone the repository to your local machine. This will create a copy of the repository on your machine that you can work with offline.
5. Make changes and commit them: Now you’re ready to start making changes to your code. As you work, you can commit your changes to the repository, which will track them and allow you to revert to previous versions if needed.
6. Create a pull request: When you’re ready to merge your changes back into the main branch, you can create a pull request. This will allow your team to review and approve the changes before they are merged into the main branch.

Types of Azure Repo

Within Azure Repos, there are two main types of repositories: Git repositories and Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC) repositories.

1. Git repositories: Git is a distributed VCS that allows you to track changes to your code and revert to previous versions if needed. It is a popular choice for developers because it is fast, flexible, and easy to use. With Azure Repos, you can create Git repositories to store your code and collaborate with your team.
2. Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC) repositories: TFVC is a centralized VCS that allows you to store your code in a central repository and track changes to it. It is less flexible than Git, but it can be a good choice for teams that prefer a more traditional VCS workflow. With Azure Repos, you can create TFVC repositories to store your code and collaborate with your team.

Both Git and TFVC repositories in Azure Repos provide a number of features to help you manage your codebase and collaborate with your team, including code review, discussion threads, and integration with other Azure DevOps tools. Which type of repository you choose will depend on your needs and preferences. Git is generally a more popular choice among developers.

Azure Repo Features

Azure repos provides a number of features to help you manage your codebase and collaborate with your team. Here are a few key features to be aware of:

1. Version control: Azure Repos uses Git (or Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC) for centralized VCS) to track changes to your code and revert to previous versions if needed. You can create branches to work on different features or fix bugs, and use pull requests to review and merge changes.
2. Collaboration: Azure Repos provides a number of tools to help you collaborate with your team, including code review, discussion threads, and integration with other Azure DevOps tools such as Azure Boards and Azure Test Plans.
3. Security: Azure Repos provides a number of security features to protect your codebase, including role-based access control, secure connections, and auditing.
4. Integration: Azure Repos integrates with a number of other tools and platforms, including Visual Studio, Eclipse, and Jenkins, making it easy to incorporate into your existing workflow.
5. Scalability: Azure Repos is designed to scale to meet the needs of large organizations with complex codebases and multiple teams. It can handle a large number of users and repositories, and provides a number of features to help you manage and optimize your codebase.

Branch Policies

Azure Repos allows you to create and enforce policies for your branches to help ensure that your codebase is maintained and managed effectively. With branch policies, you can set rules for how changes can be made to your code and who can make those changes.

Here are a few examples of the types of policies you can set up with Azure Repos:

1. Required reviewers: You can set up a policy to require that a certain number of reviewers must approve a pull request before it can be merged. This can help ensure that changes are reviewed and approved by multiple team members before they are incorporated into the codebase.
2. Build validation: You can set up a policy to require that a build must succeed before a pull request can be merged. This can help ensure that changes do not break the build and that the code is of high quality.
3. Code approval: You can set up a policy to require that changes to certain files or directories must be approved by a specific set of reviewers. This can be useful for protecting sensitive areas of the codebase or ensuring that changes to certain parts of the code are carefully reviewed.
4. Merge approval: You can set up a policy to require that a specific set of reviewers must approve a pull request before it can be merged. This can help ensure that changes are carefully reviewed and that only approved changes are merged into the codebase.

Branch policies are a powerful tool for helping you maintain control over your codebase and ensure that changes are made in a controlled and consistent manner. By setting up appropriate policies for your branches, you can help ensure that your code is of high quality and that your development process is efficient and effective.

Pull Requests

A pull request (PR) is a request to merge changes from a branch into the main branch of a repository in Azure Repos. Pull requests are an important tool for collaborating with your team and reviewing code changes before they are merged into the main branch.

Here is an overview of how pull requests work in Azure Repos:

1. Create a branch: To create a pull request, you’ll need to start by creating a branch from the main branch of your repository. This will allow you to work on your changes in isolation from the main codebase.
2. Make changes and commit them: As you work on your branch, you can make changes to your code and commit them to the branch. This will track the changes and allow you to revert to previous versions if needed.
3. Create a pull request: When you’re ready to merge your changes back into the main branch, you can create a pull request. This will allow your team to review and approve the changes before they are merged into the main branch.
4. Review and approve the pull request: Once you’ve created a pull request, your team can review the changes and provide feedback. If the changes are approved, the pull request can be merged into the main branch.
5. Merge the pull request: When the pull request has been approved, you can merge it into the main branch. This will incorporate the changes into the main codebase and make them available to all team members.

Pull requests are an important tool for collaborating with your team and ensuring that code changes are reviewed and approved before they are merged into the main branch. By using pull requests in Azure Repos, you can help ensure that your code is of high quality and that your development process is efficient and effective.

Alternatives to Azure Repos

Azure Repos are a popular choice for managing codebases and collaborating with teams, but it is not the only option available. Here are a few alternatives to Azure Repos:

1. GitHub: GitHub is a popular web-based VCS that is widely used by developers. It provides a number of features to help you manage your codebase and collaborate with your team, including code review, project management tools, and integrations with a variety of other tools and platforms.
2. GitLab: GitLab is a web-based VCS that is similar to GitHub. It provides a number of features for managing codebases and collaborating with teams, including code review, issue tracking, and integrations with a variety of tools and platforms.
3. Bitbucket: Bitbucket is a web-based VCS that is owned by Atlassian. It provides a number of features for managing codebases and collaborating with teams, including code review, issue tracking, and integrations with a variety of tools and platforms.
4. Subversion: Subversion (SVN) is a centralized VCS that is designed to be simple and easy to use. It is popular among developers who prefer a more traditional VCS workflow.

Ultimately, the choice of VCS will depend on your needs and preferences. Azure Repos is a powerful tool for managing codebases and collaborating with teams, but it may not be the best fit for every organization. By considering the features and capabilities of different VCSs, you can choose the one that best fits your needs.

Summary

In this article you have learnt about Azure Repos and some of the key features such as pull requests and branch policies. We have also looked at the two types of Azure Repo and some of the alternative solutions to Azure Repos.