Monorepo Architecture with Nx and Turborepo for Fullstack Apps

As applications grow in complexity, managing multiple repositories can become cumbersome and inefficient. Monorepos offer a solution by housing all projects and services in a single repository, allowing for shared dependencies, streamlined CI/CD pipelines, and better collaboration between teams. In this module, we will explore Monorepo Architecture using Nx and Turborepo, two powerful tools for managing full-stack applications within a monorepo setup.

By the end of this module, you’ll understand how to:

1. Set up a monorepo using Nx and Turborepo.
2. Organize full-stack applications (frontend and backend) in a monorepo.
3. Use Nx and Turborepo for efficient builds, caching, and testing.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Monorepos
2. Why Choose Nx and Turborepo?
3. Setting Up Nx for Monorepo Architecture
4. Setting Up Turborepo for Monorepo Architecture
5. Organizing Fullstack Apps in the Monorepo
6. Managing Dependencies Across Projects
7. Efficient Builds and Caching with Nx and Turborepo
8. Testing and CI/CD for Monorepos
9. Conclusion

Introduction to Monorepos

A monorepo (short for “mono repository”) is a software development strategy where all code for different projects (frontend, backend, libraries, etc.) is stored in a single version-controlled repository. This structure has several advantages, such as:

• Simplified Dependency Management: Shared libraries and packages are easier to manage.
• Better Collaboration: Teams working on different projects can collaborate more effectively by using a unified codebase.
• Improved Consistency: You can ensure consistent versioning and avoid issues like conflicting dependencies across repositories.

In a full-stack application, a monorepo allows you to manage both the frontend (e.g., React, Angular) and the backend (e.g., NestJS, Express) code within the same repository.

Why Choose Nx and Turborepo?

When managing monorepos, it’s crucial to have the right tools to handle things like dependency management, testing, building, and deployment. Both Nx and Turborepo are excellent tools that offer these capabilities with added features.

Nx Features:

• Advanced Dependency Graph: Nx helps you visualize the relationships between your apps and libraries, allowing for intelligent caching, incremental builds, and efficient testing.
• Powerful CLI: Nx provides a powerful CLI to generate, test, and build apps and libraries.
• Extensible Plugins: Nx has plugins for popular frameworks like React, Angular, NestJS, and Next.js, making it easier to integrate with full-stack applications.

Turborepo Features:

• Fast Builds: Turborepo leverages advanced caching to speed up builds and tests by only running the parts of your monorepo that are affected by changes.
• Optimized CI/CD: Turborepo can dramatically reduce the time spent on CI/CD pipelines by caching and parallelizing tasks.
• Simplified Setup: Turborepo’s configuration is minimal, providing an easier setup for smaller or less complex monorepos.

Both Nx and Turborepo enable efficient workflows, but Nx is ideal for larger, more complex applications due to its feature-rich ecosystem, while Turborepo shines for its simplicity and speed.

Setting Up Nx for Monorepo Architecture

Step 1: Install Nx CLI

To get started with Nx, first install the Nx CLI globally by running:

bashCopyEditnpm install -g nx

Step 2: Create a New Nx Workspace

You can create a new workspace using the following command:

bashCopyEditnpx create-nx-workspace@latest

Choose the empty workspace option if you want to create a clean slate, or select a preset (e.g., React, NestJS) to get started quickly with a basic project structure.

Step 3: Add Applications and Libraries

In Nx, you can create both applications and libraries. Applications are the main projects (e.g., frontend and backend), while libraries are reusable modules of code (e.g., shared components, services).

To generate a new application, run:

bashCopyEditnx generate @nrwl/react:application my-app

To generate a new library, run:

bashCopyEditnx generate @nrwl/workspace:lib my-lib

Step 4: Running the Application

You can run your applications using Nx’s CLI:

bashCopyEditnx serve my-app

Nx will automatically start the development server for your app.

Setting Up Turborepo for Monorepo Architecture

Step 1: Install Turborepo

To set up Turborepo, start by installing the Turborepo CLI:

bashCopyEditnpm install turbo --save-dev

Step 2: Initialize a New Turborepo

You can create a new Turborepo project by running:

bashCopyEditnpx create-turbo@latest

Choose the desired setup (e.g., nextjs, react, or a custom project).

Step 3: Adding Applications and Libraries

In Turborepo, you can organize your code by creating apps and packages:

• Apps: These are your frontend and backend applications.
• Packages: These are shared libraries that you can import across different applications.

For example, you can create a frontend app like this:

bashCopyEditmkdir apps/frontend

And a backend app like this:

bashCopyEditmkdir apps/backend

For shared libraries, you can create a package folder:

bashCopyEditmkdir packages/shared

Step 4: Running the Application

Turborepo uses caching and parallel execution to speed up the development process. To run all your apps, use the following command:

bashCopyEditturbo run dev

Organizing Fullstack Apps in the Monorepo

Frontend and Backend in a Monorepo

When structuring a full-stack app in a monorepo, it is a good practice to separate the frontend and backend into distinct folders under the apps directory. For example:

bashCopyEditapps/
  frontend/     # React or Next.js frontend
  backend/      # NestJS or Express backend
packages/
  shared/       # Shared logic and components

You can create a shared library for common logic, such as authentication services, utility functions, or API interfaces, and reference it in both the frontend and backend.

Managing Dependencies Across Projects

Both Nx and Turborepo help manage dependencies across different applications and packages in the monorepo. By leveraging workspaces (in Nx or Yarn), you can share dependencies and ensure consistency across your entire project.

Example: Shared Dependency for Both Apps

In your shared library, you can include dependencies that both your frontend and backend require. For example, if both apps need to use lodash:

1. Install lodash in your shared library: bashCopyEditnpm install lodash
2. Import lodash in both your frontend and backend apps, referencing the shared library.

Nx and Turborepo will ensure that these shared dependencies are properly resolved and available to all parts of your project.

Efficient Builds and Caching with Nx and Turborepo

Both Nx and Turborepo leverage task-based caching to speed up builds, tests, and other operations. Here’s how it works:

• Nx tracks dependencies between apps and libraries. If you make a change to a library, Nx will only rebuild the apps that depend on it.
• Turborepo uses a global cache for builds, meaning that only the tasks that need to be run (based on code changes) are executed. Caching and parallelization make builds incredibly fast.

Testing and CI/CD for Monorepos

Testing with Nx

Nx provides a powerful testing setup using Jest and Cypress. You can write unit tests for libraries, integration tests for applications, and end-to-end tests using Cypress.

To run tests in Nx, simply use the following command:

bashCopyEditnx test my-app

CI/CD with Nx and Turborepo

Both Nx and Turborepo integrate seamlessly into CI/CD workflows. You can configure your CI pipeline to use caching, ensuring faster builds and tests. Tools like GitHub Actions or GitLab CI can be set up to automatically run builds and tests on every commit.

Conclusion

In this module, we explored Monorepo Architecture using Nx and Turborepo for building full-stack applications. These tools provide powerful features like dependency management, caching, testing, and efficient CI/CD setups, making it easier to manage large, complex applications.

With Nx, you get a feature-rich platform for managing complex enterprise applications, while Turborepo offers a simpler, faster alternative for smaller projects. Regardless of your choice, adopting a monorepo approach allows for greater collaboration, consistency, and scalability across your full-stack application.