Build rules for bazel are straightforward when you’re on the happy path & trying to do something that bazel already understands. It’s when you’re not on the hap

Build rules for bazel are straightforward when you’re on the happy path & trying to do something that bazel already understands. It’s when you’re not on the happy path that things get awkward. E.g. How easy is it to integrate a new C++ compiler into bazel? (and I don’t just mean what you get by changing CC to point somewhere else. I want the full integration with the bazel build system in order to get those hermetic builds that are the whole point of using bazel in the first place). How easy is it to build things which are not in the set of blessed languages? What if I have a Haskell component? Can I easily integrate that into my bazel build? Last time I tried the answer was definitely not. If you can use the pre-defined BUILD rules then bazel is pretty great. If you can’t and have to start wading into the weeds of bazel’s hinterland then it rapidly stops being so. If you’re inside Google, then you’re probably fine because a blaze/bazel engineer is ultimately only an email away. For the rest of us outside the Googleplex, extending bazel is an extended exercise in frustration in my experience.