I just returned from Mexico where I worked for two weeks with one of the country’s biggest companies, and delivered the first Microsoft DevOps FastTrack there (all in Spanish ;-)). It was a fantastic experience to work with such a tight knit team (about 16 people).
For obvious reasons I can’t share too many details about the engagement. I can however share one key fact that pretty much won over their hearts and minds on adopting VSTS not only for this project, but also for the rest of the company as well. Here is the list of tools we used:
Programming languages:
- Jersey with Java 8 (JDK 1.8)
- JavaScript with Angular 1.X
- HTML 5, CSS3 with a Bootstrap template
Programming tools:
- NetBeans 8.2
- Visual Studio Code 1.19
Dependency Managers:
Testing frameworks:
- JUnit and RestAssured for Java
- Selenium for frontend
HTTP Servers:
- Tomcat 8.54
- Apache httpd 2
Database:
- PostgreSQL 9.6, client PgAdmin 9.3
- Flyway 5.0.5
Version Control:
As you can see, it was all done using either OSS or non-Microsoft tools. The only Microsoft tool (other than VSCode) was VSTS for project Management and DevOps, and also for overall orchestration of the whole process.
So we started with a skeptical team thinking Microsoft (me on their behalf) is going to try and impose a Microsoft tool stack, and ended up with an elated team using their current existing toolset being coordinated with VSTS. For them this was a very powerful statement from Microsoft about their support for OSS and tool diversity: we can work with all kinds of toolsets.
Having worked with Microsoft during a time where it was heavily focused on just pushing its own products, the current general attitude of respect, openness and inclusiveness I am getting from all parts of Microsoft is a breath of fresh air, and customers are noticing (for a non-code example, see for instance this article).