Dependency Tool for D

The depend tool helps to visualize import dependencies. Moreover, it allows to check them against a UML model of target dependencies.

Example

Using the depend tool on the code of the popular vibe.d repository gives an overview of the package dependencies: package diagram

Usage

Use dub to build the depend tool:

dub build --build=release

Run the depend tool like you run dmd (most arguments are just passed to dmd).

For example, run the depend tool on its own code:

depend --compiler dmd src/*.d

Consider switching to module dependencies instead of package dependencies:

depend --detail src/*.d

The output is a package diagram in the PlantUML language:

@startuml
package check {}
package deps {}
package graph {}
package imports {}
package main {}
package model {}
package settings {}
package uml {}

check ..> model
deps ..> model
graph ..> model
imports ..> model
main ..> check
main ..> deps
main ..> graph
main ..> imports
main ..> settings
main ..> uml
settings ..> model
uml ..> model
@enduml

Copy and paste the output to the PlantUML Server for visualization:

For checking, specify the target dependencies in the PlantUML language. For example, create a text file target.uml.

Use the depend tool to check the import dependencies against the target dependencies:

depend --detail src/*.d --check target.uml

Then, the check will complain about violations:

error: unintended dependency main -> deps
error: unintended dependency main -> graph
error: unintended dependency main -> uml
error: unintended dependency uml -> graph

You will also get warnings about cyclic dependencies.

Alternatively, run dmd up front and pass the extracted dependencies explicitly:

dmd -deps=dependencies ...
depend --deps dependencies