What is GitLab?

GitLab is a web-based platform that lets people store, share, and manage code together. It also includes tools for testing, reviewing, and automatically deploying software.

Let's break it down

  • Web-based platform: You use it through a website, not just a program on your computer.
  • Store, share, and manage code: It keeps your programming files in one place (called a repository) and lets multiple people work on them at the same time.
  • Tools for testing: It can automatically run checks to make sure the code works before you add it to the main project.
  • Reviewing: Team members can look at each other’s changes, comment, and approve them.
  • Automatically deploying: After the code passes tests, GitLab can move it to a live website or app without manual steps.

Why does it matter?

Using GitLab helps teams avoid “it works on my computer” problems, speeds up development by catching bugs early, and reduces the manual work needed to release new features. For beginners, it provides a single place to learn version control and modern software workflows.

Where is it used?

  • A small startup uses GitLab to coordinate developers building a mobile app, running tests automatically on each code change.
  • A university computer-science class stores student projects in a shared GitLab group, allowing instructors to review submissions online.
  • An e-commerce company runs its entire CI/CD pipeline in GitLab, automatically deploying updates to its online store after each successful test.
  • An open-source community hosts its public code on GitLab, letting contributors worldwide submit improvements.

Good things about it

  • All-in-one: version control, CI/CD, issue tracking, and wiki in a single interface.
  • Free self-hosted option gives full control over data and security.
  • Strong collaboration features like merge-request reviews and inline comments.
  • Scalable: works for tiny projects and large enterprises alike.
  • Rich integration ecosystem with many third-party tools and APIs.

Not-so-good things

  • The self-hosted version can be complex to set up and maintain, requiring server knowledge.
  • Some advanced features (e.g., premium security scanning) are only in paid tiers.
  • The UI can feel crowded for newcomers, making the learning curve steeper.
  • Large repositories or heavy CI pipelines may need significant hardware resources to run efficiently.