GitHub is the industry-standard code review system built directly into GitHub's pull request workflow, enabling teams to collaboratively examine, discuss, and approve code changes before merging. Used by 56% of developers professionally and 87% for personal projects, GitHub transforms how development teams maintain code quality while facilitating seamless collaboration across distributed teams, making it essential infrastructure for modern software development organizations.
What Is GitHub?
GitHub is a code hosting platform where developers store, share, and collaborate on software projects. Teams use pull requests to review code changes before merging them, leaving comments, requesting fixes, and approving updates directly in the interface. The platform works for solo developers and large engineering organizations alike, with built-in version control and collaboration tools.
What is GitHub used for?
GitHub serves multiple critical functions in modern software development workflows:
- Code Quality Assurance - Pull request reviews catch bugs, security vulnerabilities, and coding standard violations before code reaches production environments
- Team Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing - Inline comments and discussions facilitate real-time learning between senior and junior developers across distributed teams
- Compliance and Audit Requirements - Structured review processes create comprehensive audit trails required for regulatory compliance in finance, healthcare, and government sectors
- Cross-Functional Coordination - Review workflows enable product managers, DevOps engineers, and security teams to participate in technical decisions without deep Git knowledge
- Automated Quality Gates - Integration with CI/CD pipelines ensures automated tests, security scans, and build processes complete successfully before human review
- Enterprise Governance - Organization-level rulesets enforce consistent branch protection policies and review requirements across multiple repositories and teams
- Open Source Community Management - Code review limits and CODEOWNERS files enable maintainers to manage high-volume community contributions while preserving project quality
- Risk Mitigation - Required approvals and protected branches prevent unauthorized changes to critical codebases and maintain system stability
Key Features of GitHub
- Pull Request-Centric Workflow provides the foundation for all review activities, allowing contributors to propose changes, request specific reviewers, and manage complete review lifecycles within a unified interface.
- Visual Diffs and Code Comparison enable reviewers to examine side-by-side changes with highlighted additions, deletions, and modifications, making it easy to understand the scope and impact of proposed modifications.
- Inline Comments and Suggestions allow reviewers to leave contextual feedback on specific code lines, propose exact changes that can be committed with one click, and maintain threaded discussions around particular code sections.
- Intelligent Reviewer Assignment uses git blame data to suggest reviewers based on historical code ownership, while CODEOWNERS files automatically assign domain experts to review changes affecting their areas of responsibility.
- Organization-Level Governance through rulesets enables administrators to enforce consistent branch protection, review requirements, and approval workflows across multiple repositories without manual configuration.
- Enterprise Security Controls including branch protection rules, required status checks, and access permissions ensure only authorized individuals can approve changes to critical codebases.
- AI-Powered Review Assistance via GitHub Copilot provides automated code analysis, suggested improvements, and intelligent feedback to complement human reviewers and accelerate the review process.
- Integration Ecosystem with 2,600+ third-party applications enables teams to connect continuous integration tools, security scanners, project management platforms, and communication systems directly into review workflows.
GitHub Pros & Cons
GitHub offers significant advantages while maintaining some limitations that teams should consider when implementing code review processes.
GitHub Pros
- Native Integration eliminates setup complexity by building review tools directly into every pull request without requiring external platforms or training
- Collaborative Excellence facilitates knowledge sharing through inline discussions, code suggestions, and real-time feedback that improves both code quality and team expertise
- Enterprise Scalability supports complex organizational structures through protected branches, required approvals, and organization-wide governance policies
- Ecosystem Integration connects seamlessly with CI/CD tools, security scanners, and project management platforms through extensive third-party marketplace
- Industry Standard Status ensures team familiarity and reduces onboarding time since most developers already understand GitHub workflows
GitHub Cons
- Performance Limitations with large files or complex pull requests containing numerous comments can impact review efficiency and platform responsiveness
- Learning Curve for advanced features like organization rulesets, branch protection policies, and complex approval workflows requires significant configuration knowledge
- Limited Analytics compared to specialized code review platforms, offering basic insights without predictive metrics or detailed reviewer performance analysis
- Notification Overload in high-activity repositories can overwhelm team members despite bundled review features and filtering capabilities
GitHub Pricing
GitHub functionality is included across all GitHub plans with varying levels of features and governance capabilities.
GitHub Copilot for code review requires a separate subscription starting at $10/month for individual developers or $19/month for business accounts, providing AI-powered review assistance and automated feedback capabilities.
How Siit Integrates With GitHub
GitHub becomes even more powerful when paired with Siit—transforming code review workflows into comprehensive business process orchestration that connects engineering teams with IT, HR, and operations departments seamlessly.
Here's how Siit + GitHub transforms technical collaboration:
- Smart Issue Escalation enables support teams to automatically create GitHub issues from Slack conversations when technical problems require engineering attention, preserving complete context from initial report through resolution
- Cross-Departmental Context Sync ensures engineering teams receive full background information about escalated issues, including support history, user impact assessments, and business priority levels directly within GitHub issues
- Automated Workflow Coordination connects non-technical teams with engineering processes by routing security incidents, access requests, and infrastructure changes through appropriate approval workflows while maintaining visibility across departments
- Unified Communication allows teams to track engineering work progress through Slack and Teams notifications while technical work remains in GitHub, eliminating context-switching between platforms
- Compliance Integration automatically documents code review decisions and technical changes as part of broader organizational audit trails, supporting regulatory requirements across finance, healthcare, and government sectors.
This integration eliminates the traditional barrier between engineering tools and business operations, ensuring technical teams have complete context while enabling cross-functional collaboration without forcing non-technical teams to work directly in GitHub.
Try It With Siit
GitHub + Siit creates powerful synergy between technical excellence and operational efficiency, enabling engineering teams to maintain high code quality while seamlessly collaborating with business stakeholders.
Experience how integrated workflows eliminate coordination overhead and accelerate both code delivery and issue resolution. Try a demo.
GitHub Alternatives
Teams evaluating GitHub should consider these platforms, all of which integrate with Siit to prevent workflow disruptions during transitions:
- GitLab offers comprehensive DevOps integration with built-in CI/CD, security scanning, and project management capabilities, ideal for teams seeking unified development lifecycle management
- Bitbucket provides excellent Atlassian ecosystem integration with Jira and Trello, streamlining workflows for teams already invested in Atlassian tools and reducing approval times by 21%
- Gerrit delivers efficient open-source code review focused specifically on review workflows without broader platform complexity, suitable for teams prioritizing review efficiency
- Azure DevOps integrates natively with Microsoft environments, offering code review alongside comprehensive project management and deployment automation for enterprise Microsoft shops
- Phabricator supports self-hosted deployments with customizable review workflows, appealing to organizations requiring complete infrastructure control and custom governance processes
