GitLab is a web service for storing software code. Used for collaborative software development, it is a platform for managing software code projects and repositories.
GitLab is based on the popular Git version control system, which can store intermediate versions of software. A developer can check the code and, if necessary, roll back the software to a stable version when bugs or unforeseen issues arise.
The platform supports parallel lines of development, allowing different versions of code not to conflict with each other. When a developer completes his branch, he makes a request to merge the code with the main branch. If the manager approves the action, the merge request is executed. In some cases, merging occurs only if certain conditions are met, for example, if automatic tests are passed successfully.
GitLab has both free versions and commercial versions with features including some additional tools as well as user support.
This platform is often called the main competitor of GitHub, a cloud service owned by Microsoft. The main advantage of GitLab is that the platform can be deployed on your own server.