Aspect Insights
Keep up with the latest developments in monorepo developer tooling based on the Bazel build tool. Hosted by Aspect Build co-founder Alex Eagle.
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State of Swift and iOS in Bazel
09/10/2025
State of Swift and iOS in Bazel
iOS development has always been easy with Apple’s tools like Xcode - at a certain scale. Then it breaks down. Bazel has been a very popular alternative for working with Objective-C and Swift code, building and bundling applications for Apple’s platforms. Come hear from the core maintainers about the current State of the Build and what’s coming up. Aspect Build co-founder Alex Eagle interviews Brentley Jones and Luis Padron, Bazel maintainers of the Swift and Apple rulesets.
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Inside JetBrains' New Bazel Plugin with Justin Kaeser
07/28/2025
Inside JetBrains' New Bazel Plugin with Justin Kaeser
Inside JetBrains' New Bazel Plugin with Justin Kaeser In this episode, Alex Eagle, co-founder and CEO of Aspect Build, talks with Justin Kaeser, team lead at JetBrains, about the upcoming general availability of their new Bazel plugin for IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, and GoLand. They unpack what’s new, what remains the same, and why JetBrains decided to create a new plugin in the first place. The conversation also covers the future of the old plugin, current Bazel support in CLion and Android Studio, and what actually happened to BSP. If you use Bazel with JetBrains IDEs or you're curious about the direction of Bazel tooling, this episode is worth a listen.
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Better Bazel Flag Defaults - Feat: Markus Hofbauer from Zipline
07/12/2025
Better Bazel Flag Defaults - Feat: Markus Hofbauer from Zipline
Bazel now has 776 command-line flags. Most users know maybe 5. In this episode, Markus Hofbauer from Zipline joins Alex to unpack the chaos of Bazel flags: why analysis cache discards still bite, how --noallow_analysis_cache_discard can save you time, and what the new bazelrc-preset.bzl project does to bring order to BazelRC files. From flag flipping at Google scale to community-driven bug bounties, they cover real-world strategies for better defaults and explain why it's finally time to use common everywhere. If you're still hand-tuning Bazel flags in the dark, this is your flashlight. Want more? Check out: bazelrc-preset.bzl
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Bazel for Everyone? Hard Questions with Confluent Engineers
07/09/2025
Bazel for Everyone? Hard Questions with Confluent Engineers
Is Bazel a tool for the masses or a purpose-built solution best kept in the hands of power users? Farid Zakaria and Vince Rose, two Bazel-savvy engineers from Confluent, join Alex Eagle to discuss what Bazel gets right, where it draws hard lines, and why adoption isn’t always straightforward. From strict expectations to the rise of prebuilt binaries, we unpack how Bazel’s opinions shape real-world engineering tradeoffs.
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Rethinking Developer Tooling in Monorepos with bazel_env - feat. Fabian Meumertzheim
05/28/2025
Rethinking Developer Tooling in Monorepos with bazel_env - feat. Fabian Meumertzheim
In this episode, Alex Eagle is joined by returning guest Fabian Meumertzheim from BuildBuddy to talk about a common pain for engineering teams: managing development environments. Fabian walks through bazel_env, a new rule that helps teams standardize and automate tooling directly from their Bazel monorepo. Highlights include: • A modern approach to developer tooling using bazel_env • Why containers and system package managers fall short for large teams • How to streamline onboarding and daily workflows with tools like direnv If you're maintaining a Bazel-based monorepo - or just want to reduce friction in your dev setup - this one’s worth a listen. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Fabian Meumertzheim is a software developer with a creative approach to simplifying naming conventions in the Bazel ecosystem. Noticing a lack of clear schemes for naming Bazel modules that aren't full-fledged rule sets, Fabian sought to improve the clarity and usability of Bazel project names - especially for single-purpose helper libraries or simple tools. His efforts led to the creation of easily loadable Bazel projects, such as with_config.bazel, which are designed to be intuitive for users, freeing them from confusing and inconsistent naming patterns. Fabian's work ensures that developers can load the right tools effortlessly, making Bazel integrations cleaner and more accessible.
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Overcoming Deployment Fears: Embracing Continuous Delivery for Reliable Software Releases
12/14/2024
Overcoming Deployment Fears: Embracing Continuous Delivery for Reliable Software Releases
Welcome back to Aspect Insights, the podcast that dives deep into the world of software development. In today’s episode, “Overcoming Fear of Deployment,” Alex Eagle, co-founder of Aspect Build, chats with Ankit Jain, founder of Aviator and former Googler. They tackle a major pain point in tech: building confidence in software deployments. Ankit shares actionable advice on embracing fast, continuous deployment without sacrificing reliability. From using DORA metrics to creating a blameless culture, they explore how businesses can reimagine their deployment processes to meet today’s demands. They also touch on tools like feature flags and automation to reduce risk, and lessons learned from infamous incidents like CrowdStrike. If deployment gives your team anxiety, this episode is packed with insights to help you turn fear into confidence and ship better software, faster. Tune in!
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Navigating Compatibility Challenges: Practical Steps to Implement Bzlmod in Bazel Projects
11/20/2024
Navigating Compatibility Challenges: Practical Steps to Implement Bzlmod in Bazel Projects
Welcome to Aspect Insights, the podcast where we delve into the intricacies of the Bazel ecosystem and explore practical solutions for developers navigating its evolving landscape. In our latest episode titled "Practical Steps to Adopt Bzlmod," host Alex Eagle is joined by Mike Bland, a platform architect at Inflow and former Googler. Together, they unpack the challenges and opportunities presented by Bazelmod, a significant development as Bazel 8 is poised to phase out workspace support by default. Throughout the episode, Bland shares his insights on semantic versioning and compatibility challenges, particularly with modules like rules_kalla and protobuf. The duo addresses common stumbling blocks in transitioning to Bazelmod, touching on the pitfalls of module.bazel.lock files and dependency management. Despite current hurdles, they emphasize the promise of Bazelmod in improving code quality through streamlined builds and testing practices. Listeners are encouraged to contribute to the Bazel community, not just through code but also by engaging in discussions and providing feedback. As we look forward to the advancements surrounding Bazel 9, this episode serves as a valuable resource for those seeking to stay ahead in an ever-evolving ecosystem. So, tune in to gain practical insights and understand the pathway forward with Bazelmod's integration. --- Mike Bland is a seasoned professional with significant experience in the tech industry. From 2005 to 2011, Mike was an integral part of a pioneering team, witnessing the inception of Blaze. While he did not work on it directly, he was the first to be informed by Johannes Hinkle about the project after an intense development streak. During his time there, he also contributed to launching an internal remote caching execution platform integrated with Blaze, showcasing his versatility and technical acumen. Following his impactful stint, Mike expanded his expertise at Cvent in Northern Virginia, demonstrating his ongoing commitment to innovation and development in the field.
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Navigating Bazel's JavaScript Frontier: Insights from Robinhood's David Agassi
11/12/2024
Navigating Bazel's JavaScript Frontier: Insights from Robinhood's David Agassi
In Episode 12 of Aspect Insights, host Alex Eagle welcomes David Agassi from Robinhood to discuss their experiences and challenges with migrating to Rules.js for Bazel. The conversation covers Robinhood's transition from Yarn to PNPM, dealing with monorepo scaling issues, implementing build file generation, testing strategies, and the developer experience. Agassi shares details about their performance metrics, deployment strategies, and the customization required to integrate tools like Playwright and Jest with Bazel. The episode concludes with reflections on the current state of JavaScript and Bazel, along with practical advice for enterprises considering similar migrations.
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Bazel and Rust: Optimizing Builds and Cross-Compilation with Daniel Wagner-Hall
10/09/2024
Bazel and Rust: Optimizing Builds and Cross-Compilation with Daniel Wagner-Hall
In this episode, we sit down with Daniel Wagner-Hall, a maintainer of Rules Rust and a Bazel expert, to explore how Bazel and Rust work together to streamline builds and cross-compilation. Daniel shares insights from his extensive experience, including his role in open-sourcing Bazel at Google and his consulting work helping teams optimize their Bazel-Rust integrations. We dive into the nuances of using Bazel with Rust’s package manager, Cargo, and the trade-offs between maintaining Cargo compatibility and fully embracing Bazel-first workflows. Daniel explains how Rust developers can keep their builds smooth using Bazel, and what to watch out for when integrating third-party dependencies like C libraries. We also touch on IDE integration, cross-compilation, and the exciting future of Rust support in the gRPC ecosystem. Whether you're new to Rust or a seasoned Bazel user, you'll find practical tips on how to make these powerful tools work together seamlessly. Tune in for a technical deep dive and bring your questions—Rust and Bazel are only getting better together!
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Mastering Bazel Build File Automation with Aspect CLI and Gazelle
10/04/2024
Mastering Bazel Build File Automation with Aspect CLI and Gazelle
This episode is best accompanied by this video walkthrough: Build file generation in Bazel can often feel like a step backward for developers used to more automated build systems. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to streamline your workflow using Aspect CLI and Gazelle to automate Bazel build file creation. We'll explore why build files are necessary in Bazel, how most of their content can be auto-generated, and how the Aspect CLI simplifies the process—so you don’t need to manually write build files anymore. Through a hands-on demo, you’ll see how Gazelle intelligently scans your project files and generates accurate build targets while leaving room for custom configurations when necessary. We’ll also dive into writing Starlark-based Gazelle extensions, allowing you to create customized build file generators for specific project needs. Whether you're new to Bazel or looking for ways to improve your monorepo productivity, this tutorial will help you automate the heavy lifting and focus on coding.
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Ed Schouten on Buildbarn’s Evolution and Impact
09/25/2024
Ed Schouten on Buildbarn’s Evolution and Impact
In this episode of Aspect Insights, host Alex Eagle is joined by Ed Schouten, author of Buildbarn, to explore the past five years of Buildbarn’s journey in the Bazel ecosystem. Ed shares how the project started, its evolution, and key milestones like migrating from Redis/S3 to disk-based storage, implementing virtual file systems, and adding multi-tenancy. Whether you’re a Bazel enthusiast or interested in remote execution and caching solutions, this episode offers a deep dive into one of the most widely adopted tools in the space. Tune in to hear the full story and learn how Buildbarn became a core solution for remote build systems! [00:00:09] - Alex Eagle’s Introduction: Alex Eagle introduces the episode, mentioning the topic of Buildbarn and welcoming the guest, Ed Schouten. [00:02:45] - The Origin of Buildbarn: Ed Schouten talks about how Buildbarn started as an overkill solution for small toy projects, driven by his desire to experiment with remote execution. [00:09:13] - Configuration Changes: Ed explains the early changes made to Buildbarn, including switching from command-line flags to proper configuration files using JSON and protobuf messages. [00:18:00] - Remote Execution Protocol: Ed discusses how Buildbarn handles remote execution, the unique protocol used for communication between workers and schedulers, and how it ensures efficient action dispatching. [00:35:25] - Execution Time Optimization: Ed describes how the scheduler uses execution time predictions to prioritize actions, aiming to finish long-running tasks earlier for more efficient builds.
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The Future of TypeScript in Bazel: An In-Depth Conversation on SWC
09/10/2024
The Future of TypeScript in Bazel: An In-Depth Conversation on SWC
In this episode of Aspect Insights, Alex Eagle sits down with Jason Bedard to explore the intersection of TypeScript and SWC within the Bazel ecosystem. Jason, the primary maintainer of rules JS, shares his insights on managing large-scale migrations and the evolving role of TypeScript in modern development workflows. Whether you're a developer looking to optimize your TypeScript builds or you're curious about the latest advancements in SWC, this episode offers valuable strategies and knowledge to enhance your projects. Join us as we navigate the intricacies of TypeScript and SWC with one of the field's leading experts. Jason Bedard is a software engineer specializing in JavaScript and TypeScript. As the primary maintainer of rules JS at Aspect, Jason has led numerous migrations and played a pivotal role in integrating TypeScript with Bazel. With years of experience in modern development practices and a deep understanding of the Bazel ecosystem, Jason continues to drive innovation in build systems and developer productivity. Alex Eagle is a co-founder at Aspect and a long-time contributor to the Bazel project. With a passion for building efficient developer tools and a commitment to the open-source community, Alex has been instrumental in advancing the Bazel ecosystem. His expertise in monorepo management and build optimization makes him a key voice in the ongoing evolution of Bazel. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction and overview of the episode. 03:45 Discussion on the latest developments in TypeScript and SWC. 07:20 Challenges in migrating TypeScript projects to SWC. 11:35 Best practices for managing large-scale TypeScript migrations. 16:00 Insights into rules JS and its role in the Bazel ecosystem. 20:15 Enhancing build efficiency with SWC in Bazel. 24:30 Community contributions and the future of TypeScript in Bazel. 30:50 Closing thoughts and takeaways from the episode.
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Navigating Bzlmod: Migrating to Bazel 8 and Beyond
08/21/2024
Navigating Bzlmod: Migrating to Bazel 8 and Beyond
In this episode of Aspect Insights, Alex Eagle sits down with Fabian Meumertzheim to dive deep into the world of Bazel, focusing on the pivotal introduction of Bazelmod and what it means for developers as we approach Bazel 8. We explore the key features of Bazelmod, the best practices for migrating to this new system, and how to navigate the potential challenges. Whether you're looking to streamline your project's dependency management or prepare for the upcoming changes in Bazel 8, this conversation offers valuable insights and practical strategies to ensure a smooth transition. Join us as we uncover the advancements that are shaping the future of software development with Bazel. Speakers: Fabian Meumertzheim is a software engineer with a passion for Bazel. After working at Contelligence, where he was heavily involved in all kinds of Bazel-related projects, Fabian realized the importance of correct builds and the speed of Bazel. This passion led him to join BuildBuddy, where he now focuses on contributing to Bazel and its community, as well as developing rule sets around it. With his expertise and drive, Fabian continues to make significant contributions to the world of Bazel. Alex Eagle is a dedicated software developer who has been involved in the Bazel project for some time. His commitment to the project has allowed him to contribute a significant amount of work hours to the Bazel repo, and he is passionate about the recent developments in the project. With the Linux Foundation becoming involved and the establishment of a technical steering committee for the bazel contrib GitHub org, Alex is excited about the future of Bazel. He is also proud to be a part of the rules authors special interest group, which has now been owned by the Linux Foundation. As a result, many repos that are community maintained have been transferred to the Linux Foundation, a move that was recently approved by the Google Open Source Program Office. Alex Eagle is dedicated to improving the Bazel project and looks forward to the positive impact of these recent developments. Timestamps: 00:00 Bazel repo transferred to Linux Foundation, Google approved. 03:54 Google donating Bazel Skylib to Linux Foundation. 06:45 Bazel facilitates transparent integration with package managers. 12:08 Transition to Bazel 7 and rules Python. 15:08 Upgrade rule sets for Bazel 7 compatibility. 18:19 Bezelmod limits visibility, workaround with aliases. 20:39 Textually include files in a smart, non-conflicting way. 23:29 Basal updates and extensions make processes faster. 28:10 Bazel vendor simplifies managing monorepo dependencies. 32:09 Emphasizing improvement in Bazel work efficiency. 33:10 Bazel registry for package management and metadata. 36:35 Appreciation for contributions to the Bazel ecosystem.
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Bazel and JetBrains IDEs
07/09/2024
Bazel and JetBrains IDEs
Borja worked on the “Build Team” at Apple, mostly focused on the IntelliJ plugin. We’ll talk about how Bazel works with (and breaks!) IDEs and Editors in general, and how his team supported Bazel users on IntelliJ in particular.
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Bazel's Tracing and Logging Facilities
06/14/2024
Bazel's Tracing and Logging Facilities
Tiago Quelhas is a software engineer on the Bazel team. He’s the author of the “compact” execution log feature in Bazel 7.1. He’ll discuss how execution logs can be used to diagnose Bazel behaviors such as determinism and cache hits, and what other problems you can solve by enabling tracing and logging flags.
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What's new in Bazel 7.2
06/05/2024
What's new in Bazel 7.2
Brentley Jones joins us to talk about what's new in the latest Long-Term Support release of Bazel. Brentley is well-known for the best blog posts summarizing what changes in every Bazel release, most recently https://www.buildbuddy.io/blog/whats-new-in-bazel-7-0/
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BazelCon is hosted by the Linux Foundation
05/31/2024
BazelCon is hosted by the Linux Foundation
Last year's BazelCon was a success - but at a cost. The Bazel engineering team had to take on a lot of the burden. As the team announced in - this year the community has taken over! Join the co-chairs of the effort to make this happen. We'll give a behind-the-scenes look at how we did it, and answer your burning questions about Linux Foundation's involvement with Bazel, both today and in the future.
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rules_js 2.0
05/24/2024
rules_js 2.0
Join us for an in-depth live stream featuring Greg Magolan, Co-founder and CTO of Aspect Build. We’ll explore the latest updates in the Bazel JavaScript plugin, rules_js. In this session, you'll gain valuable insights on: Don't miss out on these essential tips and tricks for optimizing your JavaScript workflow from the experts at Aspect Build!
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Never Compile protoc Again
05/17/2024
Never Compile protoc Again
The protobuf repo has been a headache for Bazel users for a long time. Starting in Bazel 7, there's a new flag to use a toolchain for looking up protoc and the language plugins. This allows us to stop compiling protoc from C++ sources, and use a faster pre-built toolchain. Our guest Sahin Yort walks through the changes needed to benefit from this flag, as well as the long tail of ruleset updates that will be required to roll it out across the whole Bazel ecosystem.
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