Fisheye vs GitLab: What are the differences?

Introduction:

In this Markdown document, the key differences between Fisheye and GitLab will be highlighted. Fisheye is a source code management and analysis tool developed by Atlassian, while GitLab is a web-based Git repository management platform.

1. Integration Capability: Fisheye primarily integrates with other Atlassian products like JIRA, Confluence, and Bitbucket. It allows for seamless integration between these tools, enabling a smooth workflow for software development teams. On the other hand, GitLab is an all-in-one platform that offers not only Git repository management but also integrated CI/CD, issue tracking, wiki, and more. GitLab's integration capabilities extend beyond its own ecosystem, supporting integrations with external services like Jenkins, Kubernetes, and Slack.

2. Code Review Features: Fisheye provides a comprehensive set of code review features, including side-by-side diffs, commenting, and annotation. It facilitates collaborative code reviews and enables teams to provide feedback directly on the code. In contrast, GitLab also offers code review capabilities with similar features, but it goes a step further by integrating a built-in Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) system. This integration allows for automated code testing, validation, and deployment directly from the code review process.

3. Git Workflow Support: Fisheye is designed to work with multiple version control systems, including Git. While it can be used for Git-based repositories, its primary focus remains on centralized version control systems like Subversion (SVN). On the other hand, GitLab is built specifically for Git-based workflows. It provides native support for Git functionalities, such as branching, merging, and rebasing.

4. Scalability: Fisheye is a self-hosted tool that is typically installed on a dedicated server. Its scalability is dependent on the hardware and resources allocated to the server. GitLab, on the other hand, offers both self-managed and cloud-based options. The self-managed version allows organizations to deploy GitLab on their own infrastructure, providing scalability based on their own server resources. The cloud-based option offered by GitLab, known as GitLab.com, provides a scalable and managed solution that eliminates the need for organizations to manage their own infrastructure.

5. Issue Tracking and Project Management: Fisheye does not have built-in issue tracking or project management capabilities. It primarily focuses on code analysis and review. In contrast, GitLab provides a complete project management suite that includes issue tracking, project boards, milestones, and more. This allows teams to manage their software development projects within the same platform, streamlining communication and collaboration.

6. Community and Support: Fisheye is a proprietary software developed by Atlassian. It has an active user community and receives support from Atlassian through documentation, forums, and support tickets. GitLab, on the other hand, is developed as an open-source project and has a large and active community of contributors. This broad community support provides users with access to a wealth of resources, including forums, community-contributed documentation, and open-source extensions.

In summary, Fisheye is primarily focused on analyzing and reviewing code, with integrations to other Atlassian tools, while GitLab offers an all-in-one platform with native Git support, built-in CI/CD, issue tracking, project management, and scalable deployment options. GitLab also benefits from a larger and active open-source community.