Using Git Submodules for team separation

While not the recommended approach, Git submodules can be a necessary solution when multiple teams need to work on the same project while maintaining separate repositories. This pattern is particularly useful when you have a core team developing base stores and brand teams working on specific brand implementations.

When to use Git submodules

Consider using Git submodules when:

• You need to maintain strict separation between core and brand-specific code
• Different teams need to work in isolated repositories
• The core team needs to control access to base store implementations
• Brand teams should only have access to their specific brand store code
• You need to ensure brand teams cannot modify core store logic

Implementation approach

To implement this pattern:

1. Core team maintains the base store implementation in a separate repository
2. Brand team's repository includes the core repository as a Git submodule
3. Create a synchronization script that:
   • Pulls the latest core content from a specified branch or tag
   • Copies core files to the appropriate locations in the brand store
   • Maintains the agreed-upon version of core functionality

Trade-offs to consider

While this approach can work, it comes with significant trade-offs:

• Increased complexity in repository management
• More challenging version control and conflict resolution
• Additional overhead in maintaining synchronization scripts
• Potential delays in getting core updates to brand stores
• More complex deployment and CI/CD pipelines