Bitbucket

Bitbucket repositories

Bitbucket is a web-based hosting service for source code and development projects that use Git version control system. It is important that you familiarize yourselves with Bitbucket before learning Git. If you are alreay familiar with Bitbucket, you can move to the Git section.

The main advantages of Bitbucket include:

  • providing a hosting site for repositories to allow them to be easily shared between sveral users (or developers) and different computers;
  • providing a web-based resource to actively develope a project (such as a software) by documenting all the changes that you commit throughout the project.

Bitbucket is free for individuals and small teams with up to 5 users, with unlimited private and public repositories. If you create a private repository, no one can view or clone it unless you grant permission. Private repositories are usually useful for small, personal projects, such as your homework assignments in this course. Public repositories are more useful for open source software projects, or for classes like this one.

Remark 1: UNM students and faculty can also develop thrie codes using LoboGit, which is an internal and private version control system collaborative environment for shared software code development based on the Git version control system. It allows for committing comments and documenting your developing codes.

Remark 2: To make free open access repositories, e.g. for open source codes, GitHub is recommended. In addition to allowing an unlimited number of open repositories, the Github links can be integrated to Zenodo, which is an open access repository. This will assign Digital Object Identifier (DOI) numbers to the codes hosted in GitHub and hence make the codes citable.

Creating your own Bitbucket repository

You need to create your own repository on Bitbucket for two main reasons:

  • to learn how to use Bitbucket;
  • to use this repository to submit your solutions to homework assignments. You will give the instructor permission to clone your repository so that I can grade your homework. Ofcourse others will not be able to view it unless you also give them permission.

Follow the steps below.

  1. Create an account: Go to http://bitbucket.org/ and click on “Get it free”. Fill in the form, starting with entering your email address. You can skip this step if you already have an account.

  2. After you are taken to your account, click on the + sign and create a new repository:

    • Specify the name of respository (not the same as your user name). Stick to lower case letters and numbers. Upper case letters and symbols such as underscore sometimes get modified by Bitbucket. For ex. the class repository is named hpsc2020, owned by user motamed. To avoid confusion, you may name your repository 471LASTNAME (replace LASTNAME with your last name using lower case letters).
    • Make sure it is a private repository.
    • Click on “Create repository”.
  3. You will clone your repository using Git in the Git section.