Ankit Jain, Developer Week 2024

In a compelling session, Ankit Jain, founder of Aviator, embarked on explaining the often controversial topic of monorepos, a concept that has garnered both enthusiasm and skepticism within the developer community.

With a wealth of experience from leading engineering teams at notable companies like Google and Adobe, Jain brings a nuanced perspective to the table, advocating for the strategic utilization of monorepos to enhance developer productivity and workflow scalability.

The talk commenced with a vivid analogy comparing the chaotic traffic in India to the disorderly state of large code repositories, setting the stage for a discussion on the challenges and solutions surrounding monorepos.

Jain emphasized the difference between monoliths and monorepos, clarifying that while both may seem intimidating at first, they cater to distinct architectural needs within a software development lifecycle.

Jain cited examples of tech giants like Google, Meta, Uber, and Figma, who have successfully implemented monorepos, to highlight the practical benefits of this approach, such as improved collaboration, standardized tooling, and enhanced security.

However, he did not shy away from addressing the inherent challenges, including slower builds, interdependency issues, and a perceived lack of autonomy among developers.

A significant portion of the talk was dedicated to innovative solutions to mitigate these challenges, such as modern build tools (Bazel, NX, TurboRepo, Buck2) and strategies for breaking down monorepos into manageable microrepos.

Jain introduced the concept of "code identity" as a way to dynamically assign ownership and responsibilities within the codebase, facilitating more efficient code reviews, error tracking, and release management.

Do you have any experiences or insights to share about working with monorepos in your projects?