Prepare Command Performance in Cordova 7.x
After we upgraded the Cordova version on our build server from 6.5.0 to 7.1.0, we noticed a large increase in build time for our project. By looking at detailed build times, we could attribute all of it to a single command: cordova prepare.
Based on the Cordova 7.0.0 release notes, the most probable reason for this was the following change:
Fetch is now the default method for fetching platforms. Fetch uses your system
npmtonpm installmodules into your project. The--fetchflag is no longer required. Use the--nofetchflag to revert to pre-Cordova@7.0behavior (npm installis not used to fetch modules).
Knowing about performance optimizations in NPM 5, our first instinct was to check the NPM version on the build server. However, we were already at NPM 5.x, hence we couldn't gain any performance there.
The only remaining logical explanation was that the new fetch method for fetching platforms (and plugins as well) was the culprit. The question was, how to disable it for the cordova prepare command. Unlike the other commands, prepare doesn't have a --nofetch option listed in the documentation. We tried using it any way, with success: cordova prepare --nofetch was just as quick as cordova prepare was in Cordova 6.5.0.
Here are some measurements using Measure-Command { cordova prepare | Out-Host } in PowerShell for a sample project with 2 platforms and 15 plugins, to put the above text into perspective:
| Cordova | NPM | Command | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.5.0 | 5.7.1 | cordova prepare |
34 s |
| 7.1.0 | 5.7.1 | cordova prepare --nofetch |
35 s |
| 7.1.0 | 5.7.1 | cordova prepare |
397 s |
| 7.1.0 | 4.6.1 | cordova prepare |
436 s |
We're definitely sticking with cordova prepare --nofetch for Cordova 7.1.0. Not sure what will happen when we upgrade to Cordova 8.x (where support for nofetch has been removed). Currently we're not even considering it any way, because too many existing plugins don't work with it due to an internal module name change.
