Many projects around the world have chosen monorepos, and active development on Git is ongoing to support them better. However, as projects using monorepos grow, they often find various performance and scalability problems that are unpleasant to deal with. Add a FAQ entry to note that while Git is attempting improvements in this area, it is not uncommon to see performance problems that necessitate the use of partial or shallow clone, sparse checkout, or the like, and that if users wish to avoid these problems, avoiding a monorepo may be best. Signed-off-by: brian m. carlson <sandals@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> --- Documentation/gitfaq.txt | 26 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 26 insertions(+) diff --git a/Documentation/gitfaq.txt b/Documentation/gitfaq.txt index 8c1f2d5675..946691c153 100644 --- a/Documentation/gitfaq.txt +++ b/Documentation/gitfaq.txt @@ -241,6 +241,32 @@ How do I know if I want to do a fetch or a pull?:: ignore the upstream changes. A pull consists of a fetch followed immediately by either a merge or rebase. See linkgit:git-pull[1]. +Design +------ + +[[monorepos]] +Should we use a monorepo or many individual repos?:: + This is a decision that is typically made based on an organization's needs and + desires for their projects. Git has several features, such as shallow clone, + partial clone, and sparse checkout to make working with large repositories + easier, and there is active development on making the monorepo experience + better. ++ +However, at a certain size, the performance of a monorepo will likely become +unacceptable _unless_ you use these features. If you choose to start with a +monorepo and continue to grow, you may end up unhappy with the performance +characteristics at a point where making a change is difficult. The performance +of using many smaller repositories will almost always be much better and will +generally not necessitate the use of these more advanced features. If you are +concerned about future performance of your repository and related tools, you may +wish to avoid a monorepo. ++ +Ultimately, you should make a decision fully informed about the potential +benefits and downsides, including the capabilities, performance, and future +requirements for your repository and related tools, including your hosting +platform, build tools, and other programs you typically use as part of your +workflow. + Merging and Rebasing --------------------
