Comparison of CruiseControl, TeamCity and Team Foundation Server

Question

Today we use TFS 2008 for version control, and I believe that we will go to TFS 2010, since it is fast RTM.

We are going to use some integration continuation tool, but which one? I looked at both TeamCity and CruiseControl.NET and they seem pretty good (TeamCity is a little easier to set up). I saw a very promising screencast about the TFS 2010 automation tools, and it looks very good. But I just scratched the surface of the tools.

Which should i use?

Answer 1

Given that you are already using TFS, I will first try the CSI TI tools and change my mind if it does not meet your needs. In fact, TFS 2008 has CI features: I would have installed them earlier, and not expected until 2010.

My team now uses some of the features of the TI 2008 CI, and they work well enough for us. Configuring the assemblers themselves was a daunting task, and the integration with TFS work items is quite robust (work items are created if the build out of the box fails).

I admit that our system is quite simplified: we have not yet set foot on the build of versions (since it looked like most of the work with legs), and we also do not test the device (unfortunately). Testing the MSTest module just seems to disappear, though!

Answer 2

We started with CruiseControl.NET and NAnt. These are free tools and give you complete control. They integrate with TFS source control through a plugin . The disadvantages were a learning curve, poor documentation (for CC.NET), and XML editing. It came down to one developer (me) supporting scripts.

Finally, we switched to TeamCity. It integrates with TFS source control; most standard actions can be done out of the box. It is easy to use (based on the Internet), so any developer can create their own project in it with minimal training. For advanced use, it integrates with NAnt . You will need a pretty hefty server for the build machine (although agents can be distributed).

I have not tried the CSI TFS functions; TeamCity does what we need. There is a free version for beginners; if you outgrow this, the license is reasonably priced for a mid-sized store.