bazel

TLDR

Build target

$ bazel build [//path/to:target]

Run binary

$ bazel run [//path/to:binary]

Test targets

$ bazel test [//path/to:tests]

Query dependencies

$ bazel query ["deps(//path/to:target)"]

Clean build artifacts

$ bazel clean

Build all

$ bazel build //...

SYNOPSIS

bazel command [options] [targets]

bazel is a fast, scalable build system that supports multi-language projects and massive codebases. Developed by Google based on their internal Blaze system, it provides reproducible builds, remote caching, and distributed execution.
The tool is designed for monorepos and projects requiring strict dependency management and incremental builds.

PARAMETERS

build target

Build specified targets

run target

Build and run executable target

test target

Build and run tests

query expression

Query build graph

clean

Remove build artifacts

fetch target

Fetch external dependencies

--jobs n

Number of parallel jobs

--config name

Use configuration from .bazelrc

--remote_cache url

Remote cache URL

--disk_cache path

Disk cache location

TARGET SYNTAX

- //path/to:target - Specific target
- //path/to:all - All targets in package
- //... - All targets recursively
- @repo//path:target - External repository

FEATURES

- Incremental builds
- Remote caching
- Distributed execution
- Hermetic builds
- Multi-language support (Java, C++, Go, Python, etc.)
- Dependency analysis
- Reproducible builds

BUILD FILES

BUILD or BUILD.bazel files define targets:

$ cc_binary(
name = "hello",
srcs = ["hello.cc"],
)

CAVEATS

Steep learning curve. Requires BUILD files throughout project. Initial setup complex. Can be overkill for small projects. Build times include analysis phase. JVM-based (high memory usage).

HISTORY

Bazel was released by Google in 2015 as an open-source version of their internal Blaze build system, designed to handle massive multi-language monorepos.