While it helps to create a global community, it also comes with a major challenge – how to keep the code in sync? A robust revision control system can go a long way in helping developers in their day to day tasks. Along with the obvious benefit of storing the code in one secure place, it also has the key advantage that anybody from the team can get access to the code or their module and pull out code based on their work/modules. But the question arises, which version control system to use? Bitbucket, by Atlassian, is the answer to the above question; it offers a sound control system for the project teams who use the Git or Mercurial Version control system (VCS). It has the bonus of unlimited private repositories, which is free for small teams (five members). Along with code collaboration, it has the added advantage to breakdown big pull-request in the code review process; ultimately helping the team to follow the best practices in application development. In fact, so grand are its features and scalability, that Bitbuckets boasts of being the Git solution for professional teams. So, let’s have a quick roundup of the best reasons to use Bitbucket
1. Superior Code Review
A good code review system often helps in making a team follow the best practices in writing better codes. Bitbucket has an improved code review system with a faster turnaround time for pull request, thereby making collaboration easier – both for the developer as well as the reviewer. It boasts of a unique commit-level review which allows to view all the commits within a pull request and lets the reviewer have a bigger picture of the code. Another added advantage is that it allows a user to have multiple reviewers into a single pull request thereby paving the way for a high-quality code. Another added advantage is that it allows a user to have multiple reviewers into a single pull request thereby paving the way for a high-quality code.
2. JIRA integration
We all know the effectiveness that JIRA provides for bug tracking within a project. Well, another reason to use this tool is that you can easily integrate Bitbucket and JIRA. Thus, enabling a user to freely track the issue status or the bug report, without leaving the current tool. The JIRA integration is priced at $10 for 10 user team.
3. Built-in Issue Tracker
If JIRA is not your thing and you want to keep things within the repository, then you can easily create an issue tracker for your repository in Bitbucket. It is very flexible and has a few configurable fields like the version, milestone, etc. Through this, you can easily track the status of the bugs, new feature requests and the project tasks.
4. In-Line Discussions
Bitbucket offers a distinctive feature for developer and reviewer interaction, know as the in-line discussions. Inline comments and threaded conversation can be made within the code snippet. For example, if a reviewer has suggested a change in the drop-down style, it will be visible near the code segment.
5. Access Control Permissions
This tool promises an improved access control – it lets you set access permissions of a particular branch to a set of people or an individual. After all, we all know how much a code can get messed up in case of a wrong commit at the wrong place.
6. Bitbucket Cloud and Bitbucket Server
Bitbucket provides two code deployment models – the Bitbucket cloud or Bitbucket server. You can opt for cloud if the team size is small or you can go for the server deployment method if you want to keep code in-house. BitCloud is free for small teams (five members) and offers unlimited private repositories.
7. Great Pricing
Bitbucket is affordable, with small teams (up to 5 users) being able to use the service for free. For the detailed pricing plans, you can check on the Bitbucket pricing page here.
8. Mercurial Support
The one advantage that Bitbucket has over other control management tools is that it offers both the Mercurial and Git VCS.
9. Bitbucket Pipelines
It would always be an added advantage if a developer can build and test an application right from the tool where the code is being developed. Bitbucket lets you set up the workflow of build-test-deploy instantly, by enabling the pipeline feature of the current repository. This is a great feature, ultimately aims to make the application development and production seamless and easier.
10. Great Interface
Bitbucket has a straight-forward web interface and it is quite easy to search or navigate to appropriate branch, pull requests or any other features of the tool.
11. Unlimited Private Repositories
Whether you are a freelancer or you code as a hobby, Bitbucket has you covered as it provides unlimited free private repositories.
12. Import existing code
Bitbucket lets you import your existing code from most of the popular sources like subversion, Git or CodePlex.
Code Like a Pro with BitBucket
Overall, Bitbucket is a great tool for productive collaborative coding. Simplicity is the focus, for instance one can skip creating multiple accounts for testing & deployment as those can be readily integrated through the pipeline feature. Helps you learn new ways to code faster and better. Worth a shot for sure.
