Atlassian's code collaboration tool Bitbucket, which helps developers share code and work on large-scale software projects, is now releasing a new feature called Bitbucket Pipes meant to help developers release code faster and more often.
Bitbucket Pipes, announced Thursday, helps users automate tests to make sure the code is working properly and then release the code if it works — basically, setting up a pipeline for code releases. It can cut down the process to minutes, says Harpreet Singh, the head of product for Bitbucket Cloud at Atlassian.
"What we aim to do with Pipes is a) dramatically simplify the configuration, b) we can have multiple workflows with any number of tools out there, C) we are reducing the complexity," Singh told Business Insider.
Singh says with Bitbucket Pipes, Atlassian follows a greater trend of how developers work with code called continuous integration, a process for continuously testing and releasing code. Increasingly, teams have to work on writing the code, testing it, and then releasing it — as opposed to having separate teams for each process, as in the past.
Taking on GitHub and GitLab
This new tool is similar to GitHub Actions, a feature the Microsoft subsidiary GitHub announced in October that allows users to build, share, and execute code directly on the site. GitLab, a code management tool that competes with BitBucket and Atlassian, promotes its own built-in tools for testing and releasing code as its competitive advantage.
"We are technically very similar but the wider trajectory, the market is about automating a whole bunch of things," Singh told Business Insider. "We want to go where the developers are instead of dictating what they should do."
While GitLab consolidates all tools into one product, Singh says Atlassian doesn't think that way. Instead, it sees itself as working on integrating the tools that customers use the most and working with partners.
"We fundamentally see the world in a very different way," Singh said. "We want to go and integrate with the best-of-breed tools out there and help customers succeed."
