Stacks with single vs multiple dependencies

[james64]

Hey,

there are two ways how to define dependencies between stacks (ie db stack depends on vpc):

1. Nesting stacks in folder structure as defined here. It seems to be presented as a primary way of encoding dependencies between stacks.
2. Explicit configuration via after and before. This seems to be presented more as an escape hatch option rather then go-to solution.

Is my primary vs escape-hatch feeling correct? Is this how terramate creators think about their usage?

Nesting stacks can only express single dependency. I wonder how limiting this is in real world? How rare it is to have stack with multiple dependencies?

[i4ki]

Hi @james64

Both cases happen in real world and in my experience it depends on the use case. Sometimes nesting solves but if the involved stacks do not belong to the same scope, then maybe makes more sense to organize them in their proper directories and use explicit after/before clauses. There are many cases where nesting works like a charm, for example vpc-abc and vpc-abc/subnet-xyz stacks, but other cases it does not.
It really depends... Terramate gives the two options and we are not opinionated about which approach you should use.

I hope that helps.

[james64]

Yes, this is helpful. Thanks for clarification 👍