This blog will review the similarities and differences between GitHub and GitLab.
What is Git?
Git aims to manage software development projects and files. Files are maintained using a Git repository, which is an environment where Git is initialized to track all changes made to files in your project. It will also build a history over time. You'll know if the project is initialized because there will be a .git/ in the directory. Git repositories are also a way for developers to store, share, test, and collaborate on open source web projects.
The Basics of GitLab and GitHub
GitLab
GitLab provides the and shared goals of a Git repository, but focuses on being a DevOps platform that includes CI/CD toolchain. If there is a CI/CD tool that you are already comfortable with you can use that. Additionally, they do allow third-party CI/CD.
GitHub
Similar to GitLab, GitHub is a place for hosting Git repositories. They offer public and unlimited private repositories. However, it uses 3 party software to provide access to tools like CI/CD or GitHub Actions.
Key Differences
When choosing between GitLab and Github, it is good to consider the following:
Security
In GitHub, other users have access to the source code. This is helpful for open source projects. When collaborating with a team, you can grant them read or write access. However, GitLab allows you to restrict others to just viewing any tracked issues.
CI/CID
GitLab CI and GitHub Actions are the built-in CI/CID tools in each. GitLab has automated processes that support the continuous integration of projects. When using GitHub Actions, you'll need to do just a little extra work of writing tasks that will be automated integration.
Tracking Issues
Both GitLab and GitHub provide dynamic issue trackers. You can get automatic feedback, assign team members to issues, and use third-party widgets to display issue reports.
Community
Currently, GitHub has the largest community between the two. Wikipedia is reporting,
As of January 2020, GitHub reports having over 40 million users and more than 190 million repositories (including at least 28 million public repositories), making it the largest host of source code in the world.
With such large numbers and history, you'll find that more programmers will know how to GitHub, helping to shorten your learning curve in finding code solutions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, GitHub focuses on maintaining repositories and providing a platform for developers to network. However, it may require a little more work and integration of third-party tools to get the results you're looking for. That is where GitLab has the advantage because it is built to address having a continuously integrated repository during the program life cycle phases.
I hope you enjoyed this blog.
Top comments (1)
Thank you for sharing. I'll definitely have to check out your suggestions.