Bazel is a powerful build tool developed by Google, designed to support large codebases across multiple languages and platforms. It is known for its speed, correctness, and reproducibility.
Key Features
- Fast and incremental builds
- Multi-language support (Java, C++, Go, Python, etc.)
- Hermetic builds for reproducibility
- Scalable to very large codebases
How does Bazel work?
Bazel uses a directed acyclic graph (DAG) to model build dependencies. Each node represents a build target, and edges represent dependencies. Bazel only rebuilds what is necessary, making builds fast and efficient.
Typical Workflow
- Define build targets in BUILD files.
- Run
bazel build //targetto build a specific target. - Bazel analyzes dependencies and builds only what has changed.
Advantages
- Consistent and reproducible builds
- Efficient caching and remote execution
- Open source and widely adopted