pnpm vs Yarn vs npm

By Carlos Luevano - github: @Clue355

My recommendation is PnPm

PnPm:

PnPm conserves disk space by storing dependencies on the disk, reusing those files for multiple projects, and only updating the new changes. For instance, if one file was added to the package, only that file will be saved to disk.

It adds only the installed dependencies to the project in the root of the node_modules directory, maintaining strictness by having a separate folder for each dependency.

PnPm supports monorepos through its workspaces feature, allowing multiple projects to exist within a single repository. Dependencies can be installed once at the root level and shared across all projects.

Installations are faster than with npm or yarn.

It's compatible with npm, using the same package.json format and a compatible config file, which specifies settings and configurations that npm should use when executing commands.

Yarn:

Yarn also duplicates dependencies for each project, though less so than npm.

Yarn workspaces address this issue by installing dependencies once and sharing them across multiple projects; this is an optional feature.

It's not as fast as pnpm due to its node_modules structure, as it stores multiple copies of the same package, while pnpm uses a shared store.

Yarn is not as strict as pnpm in dependency management. It permits packages to access any other dependencies, which can lead to breakages when they are updated or removed. This occurs within a single project, through a mechanism called "hoisting," where shared dependencies are moved to a common location in the node_modules folder, allowing dependencies to access other unrelated dependencies.

npm:

npm duplicates dependencies for each project, consuming more disk space.

It's less strict on dependency management, which can lead to differences between local environments and production builds, potentially causing bugs.