bazel

Build target

$ bazel build [//path/to:target]

$ bazel run [//path/to:binary]

$ bazel test [//path/to:tests]

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

$ bazel clean

$ bazel build //...

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.

build target

Build specified targets

Build and run executable target

Build and run tests

Query build graph

Remove build artifacts

Fetch external dependencies

Number of parallel jobs

Use configuration from .bazelrc

Remote cache URL

Disk cache location

~/.bazelrc

User-level build options and configuration flags.

Root file that defines external dependencies and the project boundary.

Project-level build options, config groups, and default flags.

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

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

BUILD or BUILD.bazel files define targets:

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

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).

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.

make(1), ninja(1), buck(1)