I’ve never been the “repository guy” or “build manager” or anything of that nature, but have had a decent amount of experience working with the tools.
So a few simple tips…
Exclude Directories
The second you create a project in .NET, if it is one of the projects that have a obj and bin directory, set both to be excluded from commits. There is no reason to include these directories. Every time a project is built these will be recreated, which will cause file changes and a required commit, and if excluded they’ll just build without interrupting the flow of commits, updates, and adds.
While we’re on the topic. If you use ReSharper, make SURE to exclude the ReSharper cache directory. This sucker can get HUGE and bloat up the source repository. If you don’t use ReSharper, GET IT! Then exclude the cache directory.