What are the best features of Visual Studio Team System?

Question

Microsoft has a lot of stuff in there, but I'm wondering what features of Visual Studio Team System people really like and really use.

I'm specifically thinking about Team System as opposed to plain old Visual Studio.

What makes it worth the price?

Answer 1

I use the Development version of VSTS2005 and evaluating 2008. My top picks:

• Profiler
• Coding guidelines -- rules enforcement part

Answer 2

My favorite

1. Profiler
2. Integrated Testing Environment: I know a lot of people prefer other test frameworks but having the integration is just sweet.
3. FxCop

Answer 3

Some of the best features come from adding Team Foundation Server:

• Continuous integration builds can be set up to run unit tests on every build
• Code coverage figures can be gathered based on the unit test run
• Reports of build success, unit test success, code coverage %, etc. can be produced daily
• Code check-in can mark a work item (bug report) fixed, or can start the workflow to do so

It not only gives the developers a better idea what's going on with their code, and of how to fix it (unit tests, code coverage, code analysis), it also gives Management an overall picture of the same, without having to come around and bug the developers individually.

Answer 4

I like the line-by-line blame, profiler (as mentioned), but more importantly, I like the reports it produces, such as defect rates over time.

However, even though there are plenty of features that I like, I certainly don't think it provides good value for money.