Key differences between GitLab and GitHub and which is the best for your company

September 18, 2019

Nowadays, software developers can take advantage of agile development because requirements and solutions evolve through the collaborative effort of the team. Not only can IT professionals meet customer needs and impose value, but also unleash their imagination. The “where” isn’t important. Or is it? Technology experts have recently discovered the advantages of software development in the cloud. There’s no shortage of modern software hosting tools. Thanks to cloud-based source code repository platforms like GitLab and GitHub, IT professionals can manage the software development cycle from beginning to end, individually or collaboratively. GitLab and GitHub are like social networking sites, the only difference being that they are targeted to programmers. These two popular solutions share a lot of similarities, but they aren’t exactly the same. If you would like to find out more, please continue reading.

GitLab

Launched back in 2011, GitLab is a web-based platform for software developers who need a source code repository host. Sid Sijbrandij Dmitriy Zaporozhets designed the platform in his home in Ukraine, understanding the stringent need for a reliable collaboration tool. What GitLab does is enable teams of programmers to collaborate on code. If you’re a non-technical person, you might find it hard to understand what GitLab is about. All you need to know is that it supports groups of two or more individuals to accomplish a common goal; in this case, to bring an idea into production.

Learn about the many features of GitLab

It’s hard if not impossible to ignore the rising popularity of GitLab. The DevOps lifecycle tool is gaining acceptance among technology enthusiasts who undertake open source projects. Why? Because it provides visibility, allows programmers to be more efficient, and speeds up the development process. These are the top features you must know about:

Issue tracker integration
Letting others know about the changes you’ve pushed to the GitLab repository
Managing teams and boosting software delivery lifecycle
Token scanning
Git data encryption at rest

GitLab is set to deliver new functionality. What you can expect are visual reviews, which captures feedbacks directly from apps. Team members can provide feedback on the tasks delivered by other team members with regards to changes. Equally important is mentioning the addition of a hybrid DAG to GitLab CI. Users will be able to run multiple pipeline steps, not to mention break stage sequencing. These are certainly features worth waiting for.

Why should you start using GitLab?

The best thing about GitLab isn’t necessarily the fact that it offers unlimited private and public repositories. GitLab is better than other hosting providers because it offers many technical advantages, such as:

Control access to source code. GitLab is open core software, so many users and contributors can add to the source code. They can alter the software as they like and mold it so as to meet their varying needs. The source code is stored in a repository and you can download it from the UI.
Built-in tools to help build compliance. Users are required to respect legal and licensing agreements. What is more, they are required to comply with industry standards.
Responsive Support. GitLab ensures responsive UI support for tablets and mobile views. No matter what package you sign up for, Premium or Ultimate, you enjoy all-year-round support.

GitHub

GitLab Vs GitHub comparisons are all too common. For now, it’s impossible to say which one is better. Let’s talk a little bit about GitHub, the most popular solution for hosting software development using Git. The online platform, which as of May 2019, reported having more than 37 million users and about a 100 million repositories, was launched in 2008 by Tom Preston, Werner, PJ Hyett, and Chris Wanstrath. When software developers create, say, an application, they can make as many changes to the code as they like. It’s possible to release new versions before or after the release of the app.

You can use the GitHub repository to store a project. This project can contain folders, not to mention all types of files including JavaScript, HTML, images, CSS, and so on. You can bring in new contributors to the project while not risking the integrity of the project. Additionally, users can provide feedback during the software development process.

GitHub features that don’t get the love they deserve

The website and cloud-based service is well-appreciated in the developer community. The same can’t be said about regular individuals. It’s hard for someone with no kind of technical knowledge whatsoever the amazing benefits that GitHub brings about. What you need to know is that individual programmers can draw attention to their talent and build a solid reputation. GitHub is so important that many want to include it on their resumes. These are the useful GitHub features you probably didn’t know about:

Drag and drop Gist code
Code sharing
GitHub emoji
Team and enterprise management features
3D rendering

New features will be introduced soon to help software developers save time and remove the complexities from repository administration.

What makes GitHub stand out?

GitHub is ideal for programmers, but they aren’t the only ones who can find the online platform useful. It can be used for all kinds of files, so if you’re in charge of a team that is continually making changes to documents, you could use it as a version control system. Unlike GitLab, GitHub offers the following advantages:

Markdown. This one-of-a-kind writing feature enables you to format code and even prose. You can even include user comments. if you would like to style your text differently on the web, use the Markdown feature.
Tracking changes across all versions. Even if numerous people contribute to a project, you can still monitor changes. You’ll know exactly what happens because the changes are being pushed into the repository.
GitHub pages. You can host project pages by committing HTML pages to the repository. You can get started blogging or writing further documentation.