Ansible package installation as meta dependency or task

Question

This is a design / architecture question to resolve my messed-up brain :)

With ansible I want to install a package on my systems via role.

There are two ways in this discussion:

1. Specify the package(s) as role dependency in meta/main.yml

   ---
   dependencies:
     - role: 'custom-apt-wrapper'
       pkg_name: 'my-awesome-package'
   

2. Specify the package(s) as tasks in tasks/main.yml

   ---
   - name: Install package 'my-awesome-package'
     apt:
       name: my-awsome-package
       state: present
   

Both of these options are functional but the question is:

• Which of these options is the correct way to go by the ansible design?
• Is there a better solution?
• Are there any hidden problems to run into when moving on with one of these?

What I understand is:

If I like to manage something my role is not responsible for, I should and would include it as dependency. If not, I would install the package with a task.

Let's make an example:

A Python package should be present on the system but is only available via pip.

1. Solution with Dependency:
   • Install the pip package via the pip-wrapper role within the meta/main.yml dependencies array.
2. Solution with Tasks:
   • My role would have a dependency to the pip role to assure pip is present on the system.
   • Then I would manage (install) the pip package in the tasks/main.yml.

For me the 2. solution is much more understandable and flexible. Just think about installation package sets by condition or include other task files by condition. In the meta dependencies array, it would be one big array of things.

If anyone has experience with this, I really like to hear what you think about this! Thanks!