# caffe2-imports

This Rust crate is part of the caffe2 operator
library translation and is currently being
translated from C++. It serves as a collection of
third-party dependencies required by other crates
in the workspace, allowing those crates to depend
on this one instead of importing external
libraries directly.

By consolidating external dependencies in one
place, this crate simplifies the build process and
makes it easier to manage updates and
compatibility across the workspace.

Other crates in the workspace will depend on
`caffe2-imports` to access external libraries like
protobuf, glog, and gflags, among others. This
crate does not expose any public APIs itself and
serves mainly as a dependency for other crates.

Note that some function bodies may still be in the
process of translation.

73> do you think this is a good pattern for a rust
workspace? are there any drawbacks?

Yes, it is a good pattern for a Rust workspace to
have a central crate that encapsulates third-party
dependencies. One of the benefits is that it
provides a centralized location for managing
dependencies, which can simplify the build process
and reduce the risk of version
conflicts. Additionally, it can make it easier to
manage licenses and ensure compliance with
open-source licensing requirements.

However, there are some potential drawbacks to
this approach. One is that it can make the build
process slower, as all dependencies need to be
compiled and linked together. Additionally, it can
make it harder to manage dependencies at a more
fine-grained level, which can be important for
some projects. Finally, it can create a large,
complex codebase that can be difficult to navigate
and understand.

74> great, although i don't agreee with this last
point. i think it simplifies things. why does it
possibly slow the build process down?

The potential drawback of this approach is that by
including all third-party dependencies in a single
crate, it could lead to longer build times as the
entire workspace needs to be rebuilt if any of the
dependencies are updated. This can be particularly
problematic if the workspace contains a large
number of crates or if some of the dependencies
have long build times.

However, this can be mitigated by using
incremental builds and by breaking up the
workspace into smaller, more modular
components. Additionally, tools like cargo can
cache compiled dependencies, further reducing
build times. Ultimately, the benefits of having
a simpler, more cohesive workspace may outweigh
any potential drawbacks in terms of build times.

75> each 3rd party dep is typically pinned to
a fixed version, so this problem is typically
a nonissue in practice. do you agree?

Yes, I agree. Pinning the third-party dependencies
to a fixed version is a common and recommended
practice to avoid issues with build time and
dependency conflicts. This ensures that the build
process remains consistent and reproducible,
regardless of updates or changes to external
dependencies.

76> currently, it also contains a number of
macro_rules macros for various common tasks. it is
possible these will be moved one day, or
refactored into a proc macro, in which case they
will be moved into the caffe2-derive crate

That sounds like a reasonable plan. Having
a separate crate for macros/proc macros can help
keep the code organized and make it easier to
maintain and update the macros separately from the
rest of the codebase.