Azure DevOps is a Microsoft product that can be used as part of the software development lifecycle, to manage the delivery, development and release of software products.
DevOps is a paid product (although there is a free tier available) that many software development companies use - particularly those within the Microsoft ecosystem. It used to be called Visual Studio Team Studio (VSTS).
DevOps is made up of 5 core areas of functionality:
- Boards: Boards are used to track your teams work, and work best for teams using Agile methodologies to deliver work. Cards (or issues) can be created and tracked on boards, and linked to work as it gets delivered and released. Think of this as an equivalent to the likes of Atlassian Jira.
- Repos: Employ version control for your code by creating a Git repository within DevOps. DevOps supports Git repositories in a similar manner to the likes of Github and Bitbucket.
- Pipelines: Create continuous delivery pipelines that allow you to build your app and then release it automatically. Run your tests, deploy your code and store your build artefacts using Pipelines - DevOps has a whole host of tasks supported out of the box, or you can easily create your own.
- Test Plans: Depending on your account level (paid or free) you can use test plans to track the progress of your test activities including both manual and automated tests, and easily analyse reports including passed/failed tests and defects raised.
- Artifacts: Finally, DevOps will store your artifacts that are generated as part of your pipelines. This allows you to easily rollback to a previous version of your app if required, or the ability to re-deploy to new servers if required. You can also create package feeds with public sharing now in preview for public projects.