Comprehensive Analysis of Industry-standard Build Tools

1. Introduction

In the software development process, build tools play a crucial role, providing indispensable support for the successful delivery of projects. From the classic Make to the modern Gradle, from the widely used Maven to the cross-platform CMake, and to the high-performance Bazel, each build tool carries specific design philosophies and advantages, catering to the needs of different projects and teams. This article delves into these industry-standard build tools, offering detailed introductions and usage examples to help readers better understand their features, strengths, and usage methods. This, in turn, will enable informed decisions in real-world applications, enhancing development efficiency and code quality.

2. Make

2.1. Overview

Make is a classic build tool that has been a significant player in the software development field since its inception in 1977. It executes build tasks by reading the rules defined in Makefile files and supports various programming languages and platforms.

2.2. Advantages

• Classic and Stable: Make has stood the test of time and has been widely validated and applied in various projects.
• Supports Multiple Programming Languages and Platforms: Make can be used to compile projects written in C, C++, Fortran, and other languages and supports Linux, Windows, macOS, and more.
• Flexible Conditional Judgments and Dependency Management: Makefile allows for conditional statements and dependency management, making the build process more flexible and controllable.
• Lightweight and Easy to Learn and Use: Make's syntax is simple, and its configuration files (Makefiles) are relatively small, making it easy to learn and use.

2.3. Usage Example

Assume we have a simple C project with two source files main.c and utils.c, and a header file utils.h. We need to compile these files and generate an executable file myprogram.

First, create a Makefile:

# Define the compiler and compilation options
CC = gcc
CFLAGS = -Wall -O2

# Define source files and target files
SRCS = main.c utils.c
OBJS = $(SRCS:.c=.o)

# Define the final executable file
TARGET = myprogram

# Default target
all: $(TARGET)

# Link target files to generate executable file
$(TARGET): $(OBJS)
    $(CC) -o $@ $^

# Compile source files to generate target files
%.o: %.c
    $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $@

# Clean generated files
clean:
    rm -f $(OBJS) $(TARGET)

Then, run the following command in the terminal:

make

This will compile the main.c and utils.c files and generate the executable file myprogram. To clean up the generated files, you can run:

make clean

3. Gradle

3.1. Overview

Gradle is a modern build tool particularly suitable for Java projects. It uses Groovy or Kotlin to write build scripts and offers powerful dependency management and plugin systems. Gradle supports multi-project builds and incremental builds, significantly improving build efficiency.

3.2. Advantages

• Modern and Flexible: Gradle adopts modern build concepts and technologies, providing flexible build configurations and extension capabilities.
• Supports Multiple Programming Languages and Platforms: Besides Java, Gradle also supports Groovy, Kotlin, Scala, and more, and can run on various operating systems.
• Powerful Dependency Management and Plugin System: Gradle offers rich dependency management features, making it easy to manage the libraries and frameworks required by a project. Its plugin system is also very powerful, allowing Gradle's functionality to be extended through plugins.
• Supports Multi-Project Builds and Incremental Builds: Gradle can easily handle multi-project builds and supports incremental builds, recompiling only the modified files, greatly improving build efficiency.
• Good Performance and Scalability: Gradle performs excellently, especially when handling large projects. Additionally, Gradle is highly scalable and can meet specific needs through custom tasks and plugins.

3.3. Usage Example

Assume we have a simple Java project with a main class Main.java and a utility class Utils.java. We need to compile these files and generate a JAR file.

First, create a build.gradle file:

plugins {
    id 'java'
}

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

dependencies {
    // Add project dependencies
}

jar {
    manifest {
        attributes 'Main-Class': 'Main'
    }
    from {
        sourceSets.main.output
    }
}

Then, run the following command in the terminal:

gradle build

This will compile the Main.java and Utils.java files and generate a JAR file containing the main class. The generated JAR file will be located in the build/libs directory.

4. Maven

4.1. Overview

Maven is a widely used build tool particularly suitable for Java projects. It defines the project structure and dependencies through XML-formatted pom.xml files. Maven offers a rich plugin system, supporting automated testing, packaging, deployment, and more.

4.2. Advantages

• Widely Used in Java Projects: Maven has become the de facto standard build tool for Java projects, with almost all Java projects using Maven to manage the build process.
• Defines Project Structure and Dependencies through pom.xml Files: Maven uses XML-formatted pom.xml files to define the project's structure, dependencies, and other configuration information, making project configuration clearer and easier to manage.
• Rich Plugin System: Maven offers a vast array of plugins that can be used for automated testing, packaging, deployment, and various build tasks.
• Good Community Support and Documentation: Maven has a large community and rich documentation resources, making it easy for engineers to find solutions and best practices.

4.3. Usage Example

Assume we have a simple Java project with a main class Main.java and a utility class Utils.java. We need to compile these files and generate a JAR file.

First, create a pom.xml file:

<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>com.example</groupId>
    <artifactId>myproject</artifactId>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>

    <dependencies>
        <!-- Add project dependencies -->
    </dependencies>

    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>3.2.0</version>
                <configuration>
                    <archive>
                        <manifest>
                            <mainClass>Main</mainClass>
                        </manifest>
                    </archive>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

Then, run the following command in the terminal:

mvn clean package

This will compile the Main.java and Utils.java files and generate a JAR file containing the main class. The generated JAR file will be located in the target directory.

5. CMake

5.1. Overview

CMake is a cross-platform build tool particularly suitable for C/C++ projects. It defines the build process using a simple syntax and generates native build files for various platforms (e.g., Makefiles, Visual Studio project files). CMake supports multi-platform builds and complex dependency management.

5.2. Advantages

• Cross-Platform Support: CMake can run on Windows, Linux, macOS, and more, and generate corresponding native build files, making it possible for projects to build seamlessly on different platforms.
• Simple Syntax to Define Build Process: CMake uses a simple syntax to define the build process, making it easy to learn and use. CMakeLists.txt files have a clear structure and are easy to maintain.
• Generates Native Build Files for Various Platforms: CMake can generate native build files according to the target platform, such as Makefiles, Visual Studio project files, etc., ensuring smooth builds in different development environments.
• Supports Multi-Platform Builds and Complex Dependency Management: CMake can easily handle multi-platform builds and supports complex dependency management, allowing for various dependency relationships and conditional compilation options to be defined.

5.3. Usage Example

Assume we have a simple C++ project with two source files main.cpp and utils.cpp, and a header file utils.h. We need to compile these files and generate an executable file myprogram.

First, create a CMakeLists.txt file:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)
project(MyProject)

set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)

add_executable(myprogram main.cpp utils.cpp)

Then, run the following commands in the terminal:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make

This will compile the main.cpp and utils.cpp files and generate an executable file myprogram.

6. Bazel

6.1. Overview

Bazel is an open-source build tool developed by Google, designed to provide high performance, scalability, and reliability. Bazel supports multiple programming languages and platforms, making it suitable for large projects and distributed builds. Its design philosophy emphasizes caching and parallelizing the build process to significantly improve build speed and reliability.

6.2. Advantages

• High Performance: Bazel improves build speed by caching intermediate results and parallelizing the build process.
• Scalability: Bazel supports multiple programming languages and platforms, and can be easily extended to accommodate new build requirements.
• Reliability: Bazel ensures determinism in the build process, producing consistent results with each build and minimizing build issues caused by environmental differences.
• Multi-Language Support: Bazel supports Java, C++, Python, and other languages, and can easily integrate with third-party build tools.
• Distributed Builds: Bazel supports distributed builds, allowing build tasks to be executed in parallel on multiple machines, further improving build speed.

6.3. Usage Example

Assume we have a simple C++ project with two source files main.cc and utils.cc, and a header file utils.h. We need to compile these files and generate an executable file myprogram.

First, create a BUILD file:

cc_binary(
    name = "myprogram",
    srcs = ["main.cc", "utils.cc"],
    includes = ["."],
)

Then, run the following command in the terminal:

bazel build //:myprogram

This will compile the main.cc and utils.cc files and generate an executable file myprogram. The generated file will be located in the bazel-bin directory.

If you need to clean the generated files, you can run:

bazel clean

7. Codia AI's products

Codia AI has rich experience in multimodal, image processing, development, and AI.
1.Codia AI Figma to code:HTML, CSS, React, Vue, iOS, Android, Flutter, Tailwind, Web, Native,...

2.Codia AI DesignGen: Prompt to UI for Website, Landing Page, Blog

3.Codia AI Design: Screenshot to Editable Figma Design

4.Codia AI VectorMagic: Image to Full-Color Vector/PNG to SVG

5.Codia AI PDF: Figma PDF Master, Online PDF Editor

8. Summary

Through the detailed introduction of Make, Gradle, Maven, CMake, and Bazel, we can see that each of these build tools has unique advantages and applicable scenarios. Make is trusted for its classic and stable nature, Gradle shines in Java projects with its modernity and flexibility, Maven provides extensive plugin systems and strong community support as the de facto standard for Java projects, CMake is ideal for C/C++ projects due to its cross-platform features, and Bazel stands out in large projects and distributed builds with its high performance and scalability.

Choosing the right build tool is crucial for build engineers. Engineers need to make informed decisions based on project requirements, programming languages, and platforms. By understanding the characteristics and functions of these tools, build engineers can better optimize the build process, improve development efficiency, ensure code quality, and thus drive the successful delivery of projects. We hope this article's introductions and usage examples will help readers better apply these build tools in practical work, enhancing development experience and project success rates.