Bazel vs distcc

Bazel is a free, open-source tool for automating software builds and tests across languages and platforms. Projects define targets in BUILD files using Starlark, which can also be used to create custom rules and macros. Bazel caches prior work and rebuilds what needs to change, while running tasks in parallel. It supports languages including C++, Java, Kotlin, Python, Go, and Rust, with outputs for desktop, server, Android, and iOS. Bazel runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, and the documentation describes builds with 100,000 or more source files across multiple repositories. Sandboxing can make builds and tests more hermetic, and failures return a non-zero exit code for basic CI integration. Teams can share outputs through a remote cache, but must select and maintain its backend and secure access because it can contain binaries. IDE options include plugins for IntelliJ, Android Studio, CLion, and Visual Studio Code, plus Xcode integration. Bazel is not well suited to uncached deployment steps that change cloud configuration.

distcc is free software that distributes C, C++, Objective C, and Objective C++ builds across networked machines. It sends preprocessed source code to machines running the distccd daemon and a suitable compiler. The project says distributed builds should match local results and are usually faster than compiling locally. distcc works with GNU Make, SCons, and other parallel build tools. Machines with different processors or operating systems can participate when suitable cross-compilers are installed. GCC is fully supported; Intel icc is somewhat compatible, and the FAQ reports Sun’s proprietary compiler working in C mode. The project is developed on GNU/Linux and reports use on several Unix-like systems, Cygwin, and BSD/OS; listed platforms include Linux, macOS, self-hosted use, and Windows. TCP transmissions are neither encrypted nor signed, while SSH connections are authenticated and encrypted. The FAQ says distcc does not automatically find the best work distribution. Related tools cover server selection, control, cross-compilation, and monitoring.