nimble (install|build) --skipdeps to install|build but skipping checking dependencies

[timotheecour]

when developping a project, after a successful nimble install or nimble build it's wasteful to keep checking all dependencies (especially when there are a lot); a flag

nimble install --skipdeps
nimble build --skipdeps

would just do the install part, skipping the Verifying dependencies for foo@ver part

[dom96]

when developing a project you should use nimble develop

[timotheecour]

even for nimble develop the problem still holds:

git clone https://github.com/genotrance/nimterop/
cd nimterop
nimble develop
nimble build # takes majority of time in Verifying dependencies for XXX
nimble build --skipdeps # this is what I'd like

[dom96]

Are you running a debug build of Nimble? That usually causes lots of slowness. Check by running nimble blahblah

[timotheecour]

Are you running a debug build of Nimble?

not super sure; here's the output you asked:

nimble blahblah
       Tip: 1 messages have been suppressed, use --verbose to show them.
     Error: Specified directory (/Users/timothee/git_clone/nim/vitanim/testcases/tests) does not contain a .nimble file.

as for slowness: some packages have lots of (recursive) dependencies, so majority time is spent on handling the dependencies as opposed to the actual build action

when user already processed the dependencies successfully (and hasn't updated them in requires section), user may want this flag --skipdeps to avoid wasting computation time

[dom96]

Looks like you don't have a debug build (You would see a stack trace with the error output by Nimble).

I would prefer to make the dependency resolution faster rather than expect users to learn various flags like this.

[GULPF]

Wouldn't lockfiles solve this as well?

[timotheecour]

/cc @dom96

I would prefer to make the dependency resolution faster rather than expect users to learn various flags like this.

making it faster would be nice, but is likely more effort, and I doubt it can ever be as fast as just skipping it (or even close to that);

• furthermore, it'll be a logical thing to have given we also have:
  [-d, --depsOnly] Install only dependencies.

• nimble's D analog, dub, has a similar flag; --nodeps Do not resolve missing dependencies before building

/cc @GULPF what do you mean, can you elaborate (or give a link to issue?)

[GULPF]

@timotheecour See #127. With a lockfile, the dependencies would only be resolved once (until the dependencies are changed). After that, the lockfile will indicate which packages & versions are required.

[timotheecour]

ok, makes sense, if #127 is implemented I'm happy to close this!