Apache Ant vs Bazel vs Gradle: What are the differences?

Introduction

Apache Ant, Bazel, and Gradle are popular build tools used in software development. Each tool has its own set of features, advantages, and differences from one another.

1. Build File Configuration: In Apache Ant, build files are XML-based, which can be verbose and cumbersome to maintain for large projects. Bazel uses a combination of BUILD files and custom DSL, offering a more concise and flexible configuration. Gradle uses Groovy or Kotlin DSL for build scripts, providing a more readable and maintainable configuration compared to Apache Ant.

2. Build Performance: Bazel is known for its fast, incremental builds due to its unique dependency management system. Gradle also offers efficient incremental builds, but Apache Ant lacks built-in support for incremental compilation, which can result in slower build times for larger projects.

3. Build Scalability: Bazel is designed for large-scale projects with massive codebases, offering robust support for distributed caching and remote execution. Gradle also supports large projects but may face scalability challenges compared to Bazel. Apache Ant, on the other hand, is often not the preferred choice for large-scale projects due to its limitations in scalability.

4. Plugin Ecosystem: Gradle has a rich plugin ecosystem with extensive community-maintained plugins available through the Gradle Plugin Portal. Bazel also has a growing ecosystem of plugins, although it may not be as vast as Gradle's. Apache Ant has fewer third-party plugins available, which can limit its extensibility in comparison to Gradle and Bazel.

5. Language Support: Bazel supports multiple programming languages out of the box, including Java, C++, and Python, making it suitable for polyglot projects. Gradle also offers support for various languages through plugins and built-in functionality. In contrast, Apache Ant is primarily focused on Java projects, lacking native support for other programming languages.

6. Community Adoption: Gradle has gained widespread adoption in the software development community, with many companies and open-source projects using it as their build tool of choice. Bazel also has a growing community of users and contributors, particularly in the tech industry. While Apache Ant remains in use for legacy projects, its popularity has declined in favor of more modern build tools like Gradle and Bazel.

In Summary, Apache Ant, Bazel, and Gradle each offer unique features and capabilities tailored to different project requirements, with differences in build file configuration, build performance, scalability, plugin ecosystem, language support, and community adoption.