What is GitLab?

Businesses are trying to deliver products at increasingly faster rates, as a result it has become difficult for them to manage the Software Development process. In order to integrate seamlessly and efficiently, GitLab is a great tool. This blog will help you explore the basics of GitLab and use the related commands.

• What is GitLab?
• How to Use Gitlab?
• Why Use GitLab?
• Gitlab Commands
• GitLab Vs. GitHub
• Conclusion

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What is GitLab?

GitLab is a widely used tool among Software Development teams mainly owing to the fact that it offers a wide range of features and integrations. A few of the features of GitLab are Source Code Management, Continuous Integration, Security and allowing teams to Collaborate.

Moreover, GitLab provides a user-friendly interface to users allowing effective management of Git repositories and tasks like branch creation and management and effective handling of merge requests. 

How to Use GitLab?

As discussed earlier, GitLab is a very user-friendly tool. Let’s start with the first steps to initiate your journey with GitLab.

Step 1: Register for a GitLab Account

In order to be able to use GitLab, an account is the first thing that needs to be created. You can visit the official website for GitLab and create the account with your own email-id.

Step 2: Establish a New Project

Once your account creation is successful, the next step is to create a new Project. You need to click on the “New Project” button to access the GitLab dashboard. You can specify the visibility level according to your specific requirements after selecting your Project.

Step 3: Incorporate Code into the Project

Post project creation, you can either directly upload the files relevant to our repository, or you can clone the repository on your Local machine, making the appropriate changes and then pushing the changes again.

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Why Use GitLab?

Let’s now have a look at a few of the numerous advantages provided by GitLab:

• Comprehensive DevOps Platform- With GitLab we can not only source code, from the Planning phase to Deployment we can use GitLab tools to manage the Software Development Lifecycle in an efficient manner. Since we are able to use a single resource for all requirements, we save time and enhance productivity.
• Enhanced Collaboration- With GitLab you can collaborate with other team members working with you on the same project. Merge requests and Code reviews allow you to enable collaboration effectively by making sure that the Code quality aligns with the Team standards.
• Efficient Code Management- Once our source code has been uploaded to GitLab, we can then manage the same easily using the Web Interface. This allows us to create and manage branches, managing merge requests, thus eliminating the need for any Command Line based interaction reducing the complexity of the overall tasks.
• Automation with GitLab CI and CD- GitLab has tools which can be used in almost all the stages of Software Development Lifecycle. With features like Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD) enabling users to automate the Software Development procedure.
• GitLab Security- GitLab provides security features as well like Two Factor authentication, LDAP integration and much more features. This allows us to make sure that our source code is secure and protected.

GitLab Commands

With the web based interface provided by GitLab, we can manage the source code without using the Command line. But we do have the option for using the command line as well to perform a variety of functions. A few of the most commonly used Git commands are mentioned below:

• Git clone: This command is used to clone a Git repository to your local machine.
• Git add: This command adds files to the Git staging area.
• Git commit: This command commits changes to the Git repository.
• Git push: This command is used to push changes from your local machine to the Git repository.
• Git pull: This command pulls changes from the Git repository to your local machine.

GitLab Vs. GitHub

Now, lets have a look at some of the difference between two of the most popular web based Git repository managing tools available.:

Conclusion

Using GitLab, the teams can work together easily, remove obstructions, and manage the software development life cycle. It is the one-stop solution for all software development teams for an efficient, flexible and easy to use development and control platform. 

One-stop shop with tight integration with other tools is built with GitLab’s platform for its usability and ease of operations with different modules. Thus, it makes it quite competitive for those developers who want to simplify their development process and provide quicker and better software.