Operations → Build & Packaging
Package Manager
A tool that installs, resolves, updates, and publishes software dependencies or packages.
Motivation
A package manager solves the problem of installing, updating, and resolving external dependencies.
Where it fits
It belongs to local development and build tooling.
Mental model
The package manager is the dependency librarian for a project.
Important details
Important details include version constraints, lockfiles, registries, transitive dependencies, and supply-chain risk.
Common mistakes
- Ignoring lockfiles for applications.
- Updating dependencies without testing transitive changes.