AZ-400 Question 14
Select 2Your team uses Azure Repos for version control and Azure Boards for work item tracking. QA reports difficulties verifying which code changes are tied to specific bugs, making it hard to confirm that each issue is fully resolved. You want to implement a solution that ensures every commit is linked to the correct bug or user story, and that test results clearly tie back to these work items. Which two approaches help achieve end-to-end traceability from bugs to code changes and test outcomes?
- A
Include the Azure Boards work item ID in commit messages or pull request titles to create an automatic link between code changes and bugs or user stories
- B
Enable a branch policy that requires each commit or pull request to be linked to at least one work item before it can be merged
- C
Split the codebase into separate branches for each bug fix to avoid merging unrelated work items into the same repository
- D
Use a completely separate environment for all bug fixes and merge these changes back to the main branch without links to the work items
Show answer and explanation
Correct answers: A, B
Explanation
To establish reliable source, bug, and quality traceability in Azure DevOps, it is best practice to link code changes to specific work items and to enforce this linkage through branch or pull request policies. Referencing work item IDs in commit messages or pull requests automatically creates the necessary associations in Azure Boards. Additionally, using Azure Pipelines to publish test results and code coverage linked to those work items provides clear visibility into which bugs or user stories are addressed. For more details, see Microsoft Docs on 'Linking work items to commits and pull requests in Azure Repos' and 'Branch policies in Azure Repos.'
- A. Correct.
Correct. In Azure DevOps, referencing a work item ID (e.g., #123) in the commit message or the pull request title automatically creates a link between the code change and the corresponding bug or user story, enabling better traceability.
- B. Correct.
Correct. Configuring branch policies in Azure Repos to require linked work items ensures that commits or pull requests cannot be merged unless they are associated with a valid bug or user story, enforcing traceability as part of the workflow.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. While branching strategies can help organize code, simply splitting the codebase into separate branches for each bug fix does not inherently ensure traceability between bug fixes and the related work items in Azure Boards. Linking work items is still necessary.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Storing bug fixes in a completely separate environment without linking them to the original work items does not provide traceability. Merging changes back to the main branch without references to associated work items makes it difficult to track which bugs were resolved.