The Classics Never Go Out of Style - An Empirical Study of Downgrades from Bazel

Explore findings from a 32-minute conference talk examining why software teams abandon the Bazel build system, based on empirical research of 542 open-source projects. Analyze key statistics showing 11.2% of projects ultimately abandoned Bazel after a median investment of 638 days, and understand the seven recurring reasons behind these downgrades, including technical hurdles, platform integration challenges, and team coordination difficulties. Learn about the diverse range of alternative build technologies teams chose after leaving Bazel, from modern language-specific tools like Go Build to traditional options like CMake and Make. Gain valuable insights into the practical challenges and considerations when adopting and maintaining modern build technologies in software development projects.