Monorepo Series: Introduction to Monorepos and Why You Should Care

In this series, we’re diving deep into monorepos — what they are, why you should consider using one, and how they can simplify your codebase management. Whether you’re a solo developer or part of a large team, understanding monorepos can help streamline collaboration and improve productivity.

Series Overview

1. Part 1: What is monorepo + Key challenges it solves for developers

• What is monorepo
• Pros and cons
• Monorepo Tools
• Which should i use?

2. Part 2: How to set up monorepo with pants build tool

• What is pants/pantsbuild
• Installing pants
• Configuring pants
• Creating Requirements.txt
• Create folder structure

3. Part 3 : How Master Pants Commands Tool easily

• Configure linters/formatters
• Common pants commands ; test, package, run

4. Part 4: Effortless Testing and Dockerizing Your Code with Pants Build System

• Running only changed test with pants
• Building docker images with pants

5. Part 5: Build & Publish Docker Images with Pants (GCP & Docker Hub)

• Tag docker image
• Publish docker image to GCP and Docker hub

6. Part 6: Publish wheel/library to Pypi and CGP

• Build wheel with pants
• Publish wheel to artifactory

7. Part 7: Deploy to Cloud Run GCP

• Use custom commands to deploy to GCP

8. Running pants in CI/CD

• Setting up gitlab/github ci/cd with pants

Part 1: What is monorepo + Key challenges it solves for developers

A monorepo (short for “monolithic repository”) is a single version-controlled code repository that stores code for multiple projects. Unlike the traditional multi-repo setup, where each project has its own repository, a monorepo contains all your projects, services, and libraries in one place.

Why does this matter? Because it simplifies dependency management, reduces version conflicts, and fosters better collaboration. With a monorepo, you get a single source of truth for your entire codebase.

Key Challenges Monorepo Solves

1 . Code Duplication & Dependency Management : A monorepo allows shared libraries and components to be managed in one place, reducing redundancy and making versioning more straightforward.

2. Consistency Across Teams : Standardized tooling, shared configurations, and unified dependency management ensure that all teams follow the same best practices.

3: Atomic Changes & Refactoring : Developers can make changes across multiple services in a single commit, ensuring compatibility without breaking dependencies.

4: Improved Visibility & Collaboration : Everyone in the organization has access to the entire codebase, making it easier to track changes, fix bugs, and collaborate effectively.

5: Simplified Build & CI/CD Pipelines: With a single build system and CI/CD pipeline, testing and deployments become more efficient compared to managing multiple pipelines across different repositories.

Pros and Cons of Monorepo

Pros:

1. Easier Dependency Management: Shared libraries can be updated consistently without version mismatches.
2. Atomic Changes : Refactor across multiple projects without dependency issues.
3. Improved Code Discoverability: Easier to navigate and reuse code across different teams.
4. Standardized Tooling & Configurations: Less setup friction between teams and projects.
5. Simplified CI/CD — Single pipeline improves testing, releases, and automation.

Cons:

1. Scalability Issues: Very large repositories can slow down tooling like Git, making it harder to clone or search.
2. Access Control Complexity: If different teams need restricted access, permissions management can be challenging.
3. Longer Build Times : Without proper caching or build optimizations, build processes may become inefficient.
4. Tooling Limitations: Some developer tools struggle with extremely large repositories.

Monorepo Tools

Several tools help manage monorepos efficiently, each with its own strengths:

1. Bazel :Scalable build system from Google, optimized for monorepos. I would argue that bazel is alittle complex than other monorepo tools.
2. Pants Focuses on Python, Go, and Java, with incremental builds. This is my favorite of all. Its easy to use. Understands you code base with very minimal effort
3. Nx : Ideal for JavaScript/TypeScript projects, providing advanced caching and task scheduling.
4. Lerna : Manages JavaScript/TypeScript monorepos, often used alongside Yarn Workspaces.
5. Turborepo: Fast build system optimized for JavaScript/TypeScript monorepos.
6. Buck: Facebook’s build system designed for large codebases.

Which Monorepo Tool Should You Use?

• For Large-Scale Builds & Cross-Language Support → Bazel or Pants. If i have a choice. I would always go with pants because of its simplicity.
• For JavaScript/TypeScript Projects → Nx
• For Python & Data Science Workflows → Pants

The best tool depends on your tech stack, team size, and build complexity. If you’re unsure, start with Nx (for JavaScript) or Pants (for Python), as they provide a balance of ease of use and scalability.

Conclusion

Monorepos can significantly improve collaboration, dependency management, and code consistency across teams. However, they require the right tools and practices to manage scalability challenges effectively. Choosing the right monorepo tool depends on your language ecosystem and project needs.

In this first part, we’ve covered what a monorepo is and why you might want to use one. In the next part, we’ll get hands-on and set up a monorepo using Pants. If you’re ready to streamline your development workflow and simplify code management, stay tuned for Part 2!

Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel to follow the series and get notified when new videos drop!

If you found this article helpful, please give it a clap 👏, share it with your friends, and leave a comment! I’d love to hear your experiences with monorepos.

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