There's a reason that build tools show up in every language that exists: it turns out that it's easier to build a project using the target language than using a

There's a reason that build tools show up in every language that exists: it turns out that it's easier to build a project using the target language than using a generic tool. Consider that gradle, ant, and maven all call java internally rather than externally, allowing build paths to be set up in other ways than string manipulation. Consider that javascript build tools use internal tools. What value is there in creating string abstractions or intermediate json manipulation when we can pass these from function to function instead? Now, for cross-language projects, makefiles can be useful glue.