Great point - it's one of my pet peeves - automatic chained dependency management - at the what-do-I-need-to-build-everything level ( which is not the same as what do I need for my particular use ).
I think dependency management should be manual - make it intentional - and yes slightly harder.
If you have a static typed language, ( reflection like mechanisms aside ) you can make the compiler do the work in determining if the right dependencies are there and you can massively cut down the dependencies trees.
ie there is a mismatch between the semantics of automatic dependencies tree's and what you actually need when you import.
So if you need want to use library B from module A - I don't need the dependancies of B such that the whole of B compiles , I just need the dependencies of B that enable the my very specific use of B.
So if you add the module B to your project and run your compiler then it should tell you what further dependencies you need - rather than assuming you need to be in C and because you brought in C you also need D and E etc etc.
If you don't have a compiler ( or have dynamic loading anyway ) then your test becomes does it run, rather than does it compile in terms of finding missing dependencies.
Given you only add dependencies once, I don't think it's a big deal to force developers to spend 5 mins determining exactly what they need rather than importing the world.
I think dependency management should be manual - make it intentional - and yes slightly harder.
If you have a static typed language, ( reflection like mechanisms aside ) you can make the compiler do the work in determining if the right dependencies are there and you can massively cut down the dependencies trees.
ie there is a mismatch between the semantics of automatic dependencies tree's and what you actually need when you import.
So if you need want to use library B from module A - I don't need the dependancies of B such that the whole of B compiles , I just need the dependencies of B that enable the my very specific use of B.
So if you add the module B to your project and run your compiler then it should tell you what further dependencies you need - rather than assuming you need to be in C and because you brought in C you also need D and E etc etc.