{"id":20335,"date":"2016-08-24T07:00:41","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T11:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.msdn.microsoft.com\/visualstudioalm\/?p=20335"},"modified":"2019-02-14T17:33:41","modified_gmt":"2019-02-15T01:33:41","slug":"becoming-more-productive-with-git-tower-and-team-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/becoming-more-productive-with-git-tower-and-team-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Becoming more productive with Git: Tower and Team Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted on behalf of guest blogger:\u00a0Tobias G\u00fcnther, CEO Fournova<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Working with Git in Visual Studio Team Services<\/a> and Team Foundation Server just became even easier: the popular Git desktop client Tower<\/a>\u00a0now comes with dedicated integrations for these services. With that, cloning and creating repositories is now just a click away – and many other Git tasks become easier and more accessible.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, with 70,000 users on the Mac, Tower is now releasing a Windows version<\/a>\u00a0– of course with integrations for Team Services and Team Foundation Server, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Git has become a central tool for many teams. With this huge popularity in mind, using it productively is key to being productive in your work in general. It is important not only that you understand key concepts, but also that key features are easily accessible – and not hidden behind a hard to remember command and its seven essential parameters…<\/span><\/p>\n

This is where Tower, a desktop client for Git, comes into play. The software was created to make using Git easier while still providing access to all of Git’s advanced feature set. Let’s look at a couple of real-world use cases and how to deal with them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cloning & Creating Repositories<\/span><\/h2>\n

When you think about cloning a repository from your remote server, you might not expect much trouble. But let’s not sugarcoat how many hoops one has to jump through in reality: it starts with hunting for the correct URL and goes on with authenticating yourself. As if usernames and passwords weren’t enough, this might also involve SSH key management, generating personal access tokens, creating passcodes on your phone… Not a procedure that most people enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Team<\/a><\/p>\n

Tower helps you not only when working with your local coding projects. It also shows you all of the repositories in your service accounts. Cloning one of these is now just a matter of a single click. And creating a new one in the account can be done right from within Tower.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most importantly: wrestling with usernames, passwords, tokens, or URLs is a thing of the past.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Making Git Easier and Developers More Productive<\/span><\/h2>\n

Connecting your Visual Studio Team Services and Team Foundation Server accounts with Tower is just the beginning. Using a desktop GUI like Tower offers much more in order to make you a more productive developer.<\/span><\/p>\n