Azure DevOps Best Practices - October 2022 Summary

This post summarizes best practices for Azure DevOps based on the features and improvements we have covered throughout October 2022.

Pipeline Best Practices

# Well-structured pipeline
trigger:
  branches:
    include: [main, release/*]
  paths:
    exclude: ['docs/**', '*.md']

pr:
  branches:
    include: [main]
  autoCancel: true

variables:
  - group: 'common-variables'
  - template: variables/production.yml

stages:
  - template: stages/build.yml
    parameters:
      buildConfiguration: 'Release'

  - template: stages/test.yml
    parameters:
      testProjects: '**/*Tests.csproj'

  - template: stages/deploy.yml
    parameters:
      environment: 'production'

Security Best Practices

1. Use service connections - Avoid storing credentials in pipelines
2. Link to Key Vault - Centralize secret management
3. Enable branch policies - Require reviews and builds
4. Use environments - Implement approval workflows
5. Audit regularly - Review access and permissions

Performance Best Practices

1. Cache dependencies - Reduce restore times
2. Use pipeline artifacts - Share between jobs efficiently
3. Right-size agents - Match workload to resources
4. Parallelize tests - Speed up test execution
5. Template reuse - Maintain consistency and reduce duplication

Governance Best Practices

1. Environment approvals - Gate production deployments
2. Deployment gates - Automate quality checks
3. Secure files - Protect certificates and keys
4. Variable groups - Centralize configuration
5. Agent pools - Organize and manage compute resources

Azure DevOps provides a comprehensive platform for enterprise DevOps with robust security and governance features.