5 ms·

I use submodules and they work fine. What is so bad about them that I shouldn't be using them?

• ithkuil 10y ago
  Here's some good posts about submodules and alternatives, so you can make up your own mind: http://blogs.atlassian.com/2013/05/alternatives-to-git-submodule-git-subtree/ http://blogs.atlassian.com/2013/05/alternatives-to-git-submo... https://codingkilledthecat.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/why-your-company-shouldnt-use-git-submodules/ https://codingkilledthecat.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/why-your...
  • riscy 10y ago
    From what I've gathered skimming the numerous blog posts venting about submodules, it seems that people have trouble with submodules because they are trying to integrate them into a workflow they work poorly in (i.e., rapidly changing modules). There seems to be room for improvement for that type of usage, given what people are saying, but I wonder if there have been any changes to submodules since those posts (many of them are dated around 2011-2012). My own positive experience with submodules involves dependencies that only occasionally change; I can always point to a specific tag that should be used.
    • mnsc 10y ago
      How do you point to a specific tag? Do you set branch : (tag)?
    • Ace17 10y ago
      Yes. One should avoid to extract a component from the repo as a submodule too early, i.e when the interface of the component is not mostly stabilized. If each commit in your "main" module is paired with a commit in your submodules, then you might be missing the point of module separation.
      • Too 10y ago
        Even if the interface is stabilized, when you update implementation of a submodule you will still have to recursively update all submodules from main down to the changed module.