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Bazel
BazelBazel
Build AutomationWhat is Bazel?
Bazel is a build tool that builds code quickly and reliably. It is used to build the majority of Google's software, and thus it has been designed to handle build problems present in Google's development environment.
Bazel is a tool in the Build Automation category of a tech stack.
Key Features
Multi-language support: Bazel supports Java, Objective-C and C++ out of the box, and can be extended to support arbitrary programming languagesHigh-level build language: Projects are described in the BUILD language, a concise text format that describes a project as sets of small interconnected libraries, binaries and tests. By contrast, with tools like Make you have to describe individual files and compiler invocationsMulti-platform support: The same tool and the same BUILD files can be used to build software for different architectures, and even different platforms. At Google, we use Bazel to build both server applications running on systems in our data centers and client apps running on mobile phonesReproducibility: In BUILD files, each library, test, and binary must specify its direct dependencies completely. Bazel uses this dependency information to know what must be rebuilt when you make changes to a source file, and which tasks can run in parallel. This means that all builds are incremental and will always produce the same resultScalable: Bazel can handle large builds
Bazel Pros & Cons
Pros of Bazel
- ✓Fast
- ✓Deterministic incremental builds
- ✓Correct
- ✓Multi-language
- ✓Enforces declared inputs/outputs
- ✓High-level build language
- ✓Scalable
- ✓Multi-platform support
- ✓Sandboxing
- ✓Dependency management
Cons of Bazel
- ✗No Windows Support
- ✗Bad IntelliJ support
- ✗Constant breaking changes
- ✗Lack of Documentation
- ✗Learning Curve
- ✗Poor windows support for some languages
Bazel Alternatives & Comparisons
What are some alternatives to Bazel?
npm
npm is the command-line interface to the npm ecosystem. It is battle-tested, surprisingly flexible, and used by hundreds of thousands of JavaScript developers every day.
Visual Studio
Visual Studio is a suite of component-based software development tools and other technologies for building powerful, high-performance applications.
IntelliJ IDEA
Out of the box, IntelliJ IDEA provides a comprehensive feature set including tools and integrations with the most important modern technologies and frameworks for enterprise and web development with Java, Scala, Groovy and other languages.
Webpack
A bundler for javascript and friends. Packs many modules into a few bundled assets. Code Splitting allows to load parts for the application on demand. Through "loaders" modules can be CommonJs, AMD, ES6 modules, CSS, Images, JSON, Coffeescript, LESS, ... and your custom stuff.