Comparing GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket, which is better for managing a software development project in a digital workplace?
In order to improve productivity and reduce the risk of errors, it is essential to utilize repository management services. Without a repository manager that supports version control, it is impossible to conduct high quality remote work. This is especially important for distributed teams, as it allows them to view, modify and merge code, as well as keep track of changes and comments. Various other useful tools, such as pull requests, issue tracking, two-factor authentication, repository cloning and forking are also included.
When it comes to repository management services, GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket are amongst the most widely used. This article examines the similarities and differences between these three services, as well as explaining why they are essential for successful software development.
Can you explain what Git is?
Git is a powerful and free open-source distributed version control system that enables users to manage projects of any size quickly and efficiently, as stated in its official description.
In the past, developers would upload their scripts to shared servers without creating a local copy, meaning they had no visibility of any changes made to their code and were unable to interact with other people.
Git, a distributed version control technology which enables the tracking of changes to computer files and source code over time, was first released in 2005. This technology facilitates simultaneous development on multiple branches by different teams, allowing for real-time collaboration between teams of developers located in different geographical areas.
- Briefly, Git has the following essential features:
- Playback of the past
- Open source software that is both free and readily available
- Collaborative, non-linear growth
- Growing delays
- Applications that can scale
- Better Forking
It is suggested that your company’s development team may benefit from utilizing Git-based services when working on software projects. Therefore, let us investigate the three most popular options to determine which would be the most suitable for your company.
Compared and Contrasted: Github, Gitlab, and Bitbucket in Terms of Their Features and Functionalities
GitHub
Since its launch in 2008, GitHub has established itself as the leading code hosting service globally. It provides developers with the ability to track and control modifications of scripts, as well as other unique features such as code cloning, pull requests and forking repositories. Furthermore, its wiki functionality makes it the most efficient platform to create and share content in various text formats. Software engineers can use GitHub to store and share files in centralized and distributed repositories, allowing for real-time updates from other team members.
Extra Features in GitHub:
- Monitoring system for locating and reporting codebase-related problems to team members.
- Kanban and Scrum-compatible issue boards for organising work.
- Using epics, the team can keep tabs on its workflow.
- Guides for organising the work of a dispersed team.
- Collaborators and I estimated how much time it would take to resolve each problem and discussed the specifics.
- Merged versions, GitHub problems, and pull requests should all be in sync.
- There are Windows and Mac desktop apps, as well as an Android version for mobile devices.
- Accommodate around two hundred different languages for programming
- Collaboration Tools Including Asana, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and Code Climate Are All Supported.
- (BitBucket lacks) syntax highlighting.
- Adaptive open-source groups
Software Development Community GitHub User Interface
Guide for Using GitHub on Your Computer
Among the features of the platform’s user interface are:
- Tag changes made by a group: Adding new writers to the project on their workstation is recommended. The desktop version of GitHub is an ideal platform for working collaboratively on a project, making pair programming much easier.
- View the status of your Continuous Integration builds and Pull Requests by inspecting branches with outstanding changes. It is possible to identify active Pull Requests for repositories and monitor them in much the same way as a local branch.
- Various languages’ syntaxes may now be highlighted in the diff viewer on the new GitHub Desktop.
GitLab
GitLab’s popularity skyrocketed once CI/CD and DevOps were widely used.
GitLab was launched in 2023 and is widely regarded as the foremost alternative to current repository management software. Unlike GitHub, GitLab offers both a free private repository and a free open source GitLab Community Edition.
Extra Features in GitLab:
- Limiting membership and monitoring everyone’s compliance status is possible thanks to audit events, compliance management, and subgroups.
- Using prebuilt checklists, preformatted issue descriptions, and management windows, you can keep tabs on all the problems that arise in your code.
- File sharing, discussion threads, version control and labelling capabilities can assist teams in staying organized and making progress towards their goals.
- Management of source code that allows for forking, merging, locking files, and reporting.
- We provide a range of free CI technologies, including parent-child pipelines, horizontal autoscaling, HTML artefact display and protected variable support, all integrated continuously.
- Processing of packages in many languages, including PHP, Node.js, Java, and others.
- Tests and scans to ensure security.
- Assembly and DevOps.
User Interface for GitLab
Origin: GitLab
GitLab’s UI and features are very engaging, and it comes with a tonne of free DevOps and CI/CD tools. Access the following data on their dashboard:
- Searching for complex code snippets has become easier with the introduction of new search syntax options, such as filtering by filename, file path and file extension. This allows developers to quickly and accurately pinpoint specific code elements.
- It is essential that reports on the security of both containers and the DAST pipeline are produced at every stage of development. Although it is not possible to predict when any vulnerabilities may arise, it is essential that we are prepared for them. This function provides developers with an understanding of the current security state of a given branch.
- Redesign of the pipeline’s informational widget and merge request widget: GitLab relies heavily on merge requests and the merge request widget.
- GitLab’s “Group” navigation menu makes it simple to swap between users without interrupting current tasks.
- Check out the details of the merge request in the online IDE. The history of each modification is recorded in the merge request’s description.
- The Development panel in JIRA can be accessed to view and manage issues, pull requests and branches in GitLab. To complete the integration process, a JIRA instance must be linked to a GitLab organization.
Bitbucket
BitBucket was initially created to serve as a Mercurial version control system. Recently, it has added Git support, which enables it to be used with the tools in the Atlassian suite. This allows an unlimited number of code repositories to be hosted both publicly and privately. For those with fewer than five users, they are free to create as many repositories as they need. This enables developers to track Jira-related actions, measure productivity, and connect to shared code bases.
Additional BitBucket Features:
- The Pipelines CI/CD service shows and monitors the whole product development life cycle.
- Authorization to branch out into a different repository with restricted access.
- Support for a variety of third-party applications, including Slack, Bamboo, Jenkins, HipChat, and Crucible.
- Bit Beaker is an app that can be downloaded on Android devices but also works on Macs.
- Create code snippets with ease with BitBucket Snippets.
- Archiving and collaborative editing (wiki);
- Codebase navigation search bar.
- A number of Atlassian Extensions.
Internet Protocol Address (IP Address) to BitBucket
The BitBucket Source
- Code reviews are an essential tool when developing high-quality software. The dashboard provided makes it easier to approve pull requests, create checklists and have private discussions.
- Bitbucket Pipelines with Deployments makes it possible to build, test, and develop with integrated CI/CD, allowing for frequent deployments.
- Develop secure code from the outset: You can identify any security issues in your code, scripts and containers in real-time, identify solutions and monitor the risks even after deployment.
When Comparing the Three Major Version Control Systems, Github, Gitlab, and Bitbucket, 2023 Will Be a Pivotal Year.
According to data from Google Trends, the battle between GitHub, GitLab, and BitBucket continues.
The chart demonstrates that GitHub is the most widely used platform, with GitLab gradually increasing its user base. Conversely, BitBucket has the least amount of users.
- GitHub is the world’s leading platform for open source and private collaboration, with over 40 million users. It can be easy to confuse Git and GitHub, as they share similar names. To clarify, Git is a framework that enables the tracking and management of changes to code in real-time, while GitHub is a software solution that utilizes Git to provide secure hosting services, among other features. Microsoft/vscode, for example, has over 19.100 contributors, making it the most popular open source project on GitHub. In addition, other popular open source projects such as Flutter, Visual Studio Code, Azure Documentation, Tensor Flow, and Kubernetes are all hosted on the platform.
- GitLab’s case studies website highlights that Drupal, Ticketmaster, and BI Worldwide use the platform to manage their development projects. GitLab prioritizes scientific and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) over large corporate ventures. Although there is no available data to confirm, it is estimated that between 200,000 and 500,000 businesses and programmers use this service.
- Jira has been integral to the increased success of BitBucket. Although the open-source community remains relatively small, it is used by renowned companies such as Slack, Accenture, Figma, and Paypal. It is true that users outside of the Atlassian ecosystem and open-source groups account for a minority in terms of BitBucket’s user base. The platform recently announced that it has 10 million programmers using it.
Expenses: Github, Gitlab, and Bitbucket
The features and functions provided by GitHub come at a cost, which can be a prohibitive factor for some businesses. Depending on the size of the company and their resources, GitLab and Bitbucket may be more suitable alternatives.
Let’s check out how to sign up for each of them:
Bitbucket’s build minutes are exclusive to Bitbucket Pipelines and its File Storage is solely for the purpose of Git’s Large File Storage, which is available to all users.
The graph demonstrates the varied range of services available and their associated features. For teams with multiple remote engineers, Bitbucket offers the most cost-effective solution. GitLab is ideal for small teams, as there is no minimum user requirement for mid-sized projects. When working with a single remote developer, GitLab is the most cost-effective choice.
The cloud is where most remote teams store their data. This is why the costs listed are for cloud-hosted repositories rather than server-hosted ones.
Explore the websites of GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket to gain knowledge of the features and pricing tiers accessible, including cloud and self-hosting alternatives.
Review of Remote Team Collaboration Tools: Github, Gitlab, and Bitbucket
We can evaluate which repository management service is ideal for your project once you’ve read this overview of each one.
Let us start by discussing Bitbucket. Unless one requires a high level of integration, GitHub or GitLab are generally better options than the Atlassian solutions. Both Bitbucket and GitLab offer competitive pricing, although the user interface of Bitbucket has received mixed reviews. Some users have reported difficulties in understanding how to use the system, while others have praised its ability to manage both their professional and personal tasks together in one place.
BitBucket’s key advantage is its ability to streamline project management. The integration of repository files with Jira can be a time-saver for business owners and project managers, taking advantage of Jira’s reporting and collaborative features.
Secondly, GitHub is the clear leader in this field. Most programmers are likely familiar with it. It offers a number of features such as code sample sharing (known as Gists in GitHub), browser-based file editing, powerful searching, and LDAP and JIRA integration, making it the perfect choice for distributed teams. Additionally, it has syntax highlighting, which is absent from the feature-rich BitBucket.
It is recommended to consider GitLab as a viable alternative to GitHub. BitBucket, on the other hand, only allows up to 5 members and does not charge for private repositories. Unlike these two, GitLab is open-source and free of cost. If a team comprises of 100 members and a thousand repositories, then GitLab and Digital Ocean present the best option. Additionally, due to its open-source nature, it has several integrations and features that have been developed by other developers, thus reducing the time needed for creating new ones. Ultimately, any hardware, operating system, and configuration manager may be deployed on a server, be it in the cloud, a VM, or the server itself.
Hence,
Bitbucket is an excellent choice for managing distributed teams. If you’re familiar with Atlassian’s product range, it is a great choice. For those who prefer the familiarity of a well-known platform, GitHub is a great option. Alternatively, GitLab offers first-rate features at competitive prices, making it a great option for start-ups and organizations with tight budgets.
In conclusion
It is essential to consider not just the platform and cost, but also the organizational structure of the team, when making a decision. Adopting new technologies can bring increased efficiency and focus to the development team, so it is recommended to consult with the people who will be using them in the project before settling on a final decision.
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