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Azure Boards

1 - Overview​

Azure Boards is an Agile project management tool for planning, tracking, and discussing work.

2 - Process templates​

2.1 Available templates​

TemplateDescriptionWork Items
AgileClassic Scrum/AgileEpic, Feature, User Story, Task, Bug
ScrumPure ScrumEpic, Feature, PBI, Task, Bug
CMMIFormal processEpic, Feature, Requirement, Task, Bug
BasicSimpleEpic, Issue, Task

2.2 Work item hierarchy (Agile)​

3 - Work Items​

3.1 Create a work item​

# Via CLI
az boards work-item create \
    --type "User Story" \
    --title "En tant qu'utilisateur, je veux me connecter" \
    --description "Permettre l'authentification via email/password" \
    --assigned-to "[email protected]" \
    --area "MonProjet\Backend" \
    --iteration "MonProjet\Sprint 1"

3.2 Important fields​

FieldDescription
TitleWork item title
StateNew, Active, Resolved, Closed
Assigned ToAssigned person
Area PathFunctional area
Iteration PathSprint
Priority1 (Critical) to 4 (Low)
Story PointsEffort estimation

3.3 Update a work item​

# Via CLI
az boards work-item update \
    --id 123 \
    --state "Active" \
    --assigned-to "[email protected]"

# Ajouter un commentaire
az boards work-item update \
    --id 123 \
    --discussion "Travail en cours sur la feature"

4 - Backlogs​

4.1 Product Backlog​

Hierarchical view of all the work to be done:

  • Epics
  • Features
  • User Stories / PBIs

4.2 Sprint Backlog​

Work planned for a specific sprint.

4.3 Organization​

Product Backlog
├── Epic: Système d'authentification
│   ├── Feature: Login
│   │   ├── User Story: Login email/password
│   │   │   ├── Task: UI formulaire
│   │   │   └── Task: API endpoint
│   │   └── User Story: Login OAuth
│   └── Feature: Gestion profil
│       └── User Story: Modifier mot de passe
└── Epic: Dashboard
    └── Feature: Analytics

5 - Sprints​

5.1 Configure sprints​

# Créer une itération
az boards iteration project create \
    --name "Sprint 1" \
    --start-date 2024-01-15 \
    --finish-date 2024-01-29

# Lister les itérations
az boards iteration project list

5.2 Team capacity​

Configure the capacity per member:

  • Available hours per day
  • Days off
  • Activities (Development, Testing, etc.)

5.3 Burndown Chart​

Azure Boards automatically generates a burndown chart showing:

  • Remaining work vs time
  • Ideal trend
  • Work added mid-sprint

6 - Kanban Boards​

6.1 Default columns​

┌─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬──────────┬─────────┐
│   New   │ Active  │ Resolved│  Closed  │  Done   │
├─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼──────────┼─────────┤
│ Story 1 │ Story 2 │ Story 3 │          │ Story 4 │
│ Story 5 │         │         │          │         │
└─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴──────────┴─────────┘

6.2 Customization​

  • Add/remove columns
  • Define WIP limits
  • Add swimlanes
  • Configure Definition of Done

6.3 WIP Limits​

# Exemple de configuration
Colonnes:
  - New: Pas de limite
  - Active: WIP = 5 (max 5 items)
  - In Review: WIP = 3
  - Done: Pas de limite

7 - Queries​

7.1 Query types​

TypeDescription
Flat listSimple list
Work items and direct linksItems with direct links
Tree of work itemsHierarchical view

7.2 Query examples​

# Via CLI - Lister les bugs actifs
az boards query \
    --wiql "SELECT [System.Id], [System.Title] FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.WorkItemType] = 'Bug' AND [System.State] = 'Active'"

Useful queries:

QueryWIQL
My tasks[Assigned To] = @Me AND [State] <> 'Closed'
Critical bugs[Work Item Type] = 'Bug' AND [Priority] = 1
Current sprint[Iteration Path] = @CurrentIteration
Created this week[Created Date] >= @Today - 7

8 - Dashboards​

8.1 Available widgets​

  • Chart for Work Items: Charts based on queries
  • Burndown: Burndown/burnup charts
  • Velocity: Team velocity
  • Sprint Capacity: Remaining capacity
  • Lead Time: Cycle time
  • Cumulative Flow: Cumulative flow diagram

8.2 Create a dashboard​

  1. Go to Overview → Dashboards
  2. Click "New Dashboard"
  3. Add widgets with the "+" button
  4. Configure each widget

9 - Integration with the code​

# Dans le message de commit
git commit -m "Add login form #123"

# Ou avec AB# (Azure Boards)
git commit -m "Fix bug AB#456"
az repos pr create \
    --source-branch feature/login \
    --target-branch main \
    --work-items 123 456

9.3 Auto-close work items​

Configure the project to automatically close work items when the PR is merged.

Summary​

In this chapter, we learned:

  • The process templates (Agile, Scrum, etc.)
  • Work Items and their management
  • Backlogs and Sprints
  • Kanban Boards
  • Queries and Dashboards
  • Integration with the code

Next step​

In the next chapter, we will look at Azure Pipelines.

→ Next chapter: Azure Pipelines

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