Scaling Development with Turborepo: A Practical Guide

Scaling Development with Turborepo: A Practical Guide

M
Michael Hurhangee
•3 min read
Turborepo
Monorepo
DevOps
JavaScript
Build Tools

Scaling Development with Turborepo: A Practical Guide

Turborepo has transformed how we manage monorepos, making it easier than ever to handle multiple packages and applications in a single repository. Let's explore how to leverage its powerful features effectively.

Why Choose Turborepo?

Turborepo solves several critical challenges in monorepo management:

  1. Intelligent Build Caching: Avoid redundant work
  2. Parallel Task Execution: Maximize CPU usage
  3. Workspace Management: Simplified dependencies
  4. Zero Configuration: Works out of the box

Real-World Setup

Here's how we structure our monorepo:

.
├── apps/
│   ├── web/           # Next.js application
│   └── docs/          # Documentation site
├── packages/
│   ├── ui/            # Shared UI components
│   ├── config/        # Shared configurations
│   └── utils/         # Common utilities
└── package.json

Turborepo Configuration

The heart of Turborepo is the turbo.json configuration:

{
  "$schema": "https://turbo.build/schema.json",
  "pipeline": {
    "build": {
      "dependsOn": ["^build"],
      "outputs": [".next/**", "dist/**"]
    },
    "dev": {
      "cache": false,
      "persistent": true
    },
    "lint": {
      "outputs": []
    }
  }
}

Understanding Pipeline Configuration

  • dependsOn: Define task dependencies
  • outputs: Specify build artifacts
  • cache: Control caching behavior
  • persistent: Handle long-running tasks

Workspace Dependencies

Managing dependencies across workspaces:

{
  "name": "@workspace/web",
  "dependencies": {
    "@workspace/ui": "workspace:*",
    "@workspace/utils": "workspace:*"
  }
}

Remote Caching

Enable team-wide build caching:

turbo build --team="your-team" --token="your-token"

Practical Tips

  1. Optimize Task Dependencies:

    {
  "dev": {
    "dependsOn": ["^build"],
    "persistent": true
  }
}

  2. Prune Unused Code:

    turbo prune --scope="@workspace/web"

  3. Filter Task Execution:

    turbo run build --filter="@workspace/web..."

Performance Improvements

Real examples of performance gains:

  1. Build Time Reduction:

    • Without Turborepo: 5 minutes
    • With Turborepo: 45 seconds

  2. Cache Hit Rates:

    • Local development: ~90%
    • CI/CD: ~75%

Best Practices

  1. Consistent Package Structure

    packages/
├── tsconfig/        # Shared TypeScript config
├── eslint-config/   # Shared ESLint rules
└── scripts/         # Common build scripts

  2. Workspace Organization

    • Group by functionality
    • Maintain clear dependencies
    • Use consistent naming

Conclusion

Turborepo has significantly improved our development workflow by:

  • Reducing build times
  • Simplifying dependency management
  • Enabling efficient team collaboration

Consider adopting Turborepo for your next project to experience these benefits firsthand.

Resources