Day 18 of 90 Days of DevOps Challenge: Diving into Bitbucket

What is Bitbucket?

Bitbucket is a Git-based source code repository hosting service owned by Atlassian. It enables developers and teams to manage their code, collaborate efficiently, and integrate with various tools such as Jira, Trello, and Bitbucket Pipelines for CI/CD. Like GitHub, Bitbucket allows you to store, share, and manage your Git repositories in the cloud or on-premises.

Why is Bitbucket Used?

Bitbucket is popular among teams using Atlassian's ecosystem. It provides strong collaboration features, powerful integrations and supports Git version control. It's often chosen for:

• Integration with Atlassian tools (like Jira and Trello)

• Built-in CI/CD with Bitbucket Pipelines

• Unlimited private repositories (for small teams)

• Role-based access control and branch permissions

• Support for both Git and Mercurial (until 2020)

Key Features of Bitbucket

• Unlimited Private Repositories: Great for teams working on internal or private projects.

• Bitbucket Pipelines: Native CI/CD support to automate builds, tests, and deployments.

• Branch Permissions: Fine-grained control over who can write or merge to a branch.

• Pull Requests with Code Review: Helps improve code quality and collaboration.

• Jira Integration: Track issues, commits, and pull requests directly from Jira.

• Built-in Wiki and Issue Tracker: Organize documentation and track issues within the repo.

Bitbucket vs GitHub: Key Differences

How to Create Your First Bitbucket Project

Step 1: Sign Up and Set Up Workspace

1. Visit bitbucket.org

2. Create an account or log in using Atlassian/Google

3. Create a new workspace - give it a unique name and set visibility

Step 2: Create a Repository

1. Click on "Create Repository"

2. Name your repo, choose visibility (public/private), and Git as version control

3. Optionally initialize with a README

Step 3: Clone Your Repo Locally

git clone https://your_username@bitbucket.org/your_workspace/repo_name.git

Step 4: Add and Push Code

cd repo_name
touch index.html
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git push origin main

Step 5: Collaborate

• Invite team members to your workspace

• Use branches and pull requests for reviews

Final Thoughts

Getting hands-on with Bitbucket gave me a deeper understanding of how different Git platforms function. From my experience, Bitbucket felt more suited for enterprise teams with its detailed permissions and seamless Atlassian integration. On the other hand, GitHub provided a smoother experience for open-source work, backed by its vast developer community. Both tools are powerful. Your choice depends on the project scale, team needs, and tool integration preferences.

And with that, Day 18 of my DevOps journey is done. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s learning!