Overview
The article discusses how Pinterest improved the speed and reliability of its iOS builds by adopting Bazel as their build system. It highlights the challenges faced with previous tools and the benefits realized from the transition, including significant improvements in build times and success rates.
What You'll Learn
1
How to improve build speed and reliability using Bazel
2
Why a consistent build environment is crucial for reproducibility
3
When to modularize your application for better build management
Prerequisites & Requirements
- Understanding of build systems and continuous integration
- Familiarity with Bazel and Xcode(optional)
Key Questions Answered
What improvements did Pinterest see after adopting Bazel for iOS builds?
After adopting Bazel, Pinterest reduced clean build time from 4m 38s to 3m 38s, achieving a 21% improvement. Continuous integration builds also saw a drop from 10m 24s to 7m 34s, a 27% improvement, and beta build times decreased from 14m 32s to 7m 52s, a 45% improvement.
How does Bazel enhance local development for iOS at Pinterest?
Bazel enhances local development by enabling faster builds, allowing instant rebuilds through local disk caches, and ensuring identical environments between CI and local setups, which simplifies issue reproduction.
What challenges did Pinterest face with their previous build systems?
Pinterest faced challenges such as build instability, difficulty in managing modular architecture, and the lack of tools in Xcode for profiling builds, which led to inconsistent builds between local and CI environments.
Why is a consistent build environment important for developers?
A consistent build environment is crucial because it ensures that applications behave the same regardless of where they are built, eliminating discrepancies that can lead to wasted time troubleshooting build failures.
Key Statistics & Figures
Clean build time reduction
21%
Reduced from 4m 38s to 3m 38s
Continuous integration build time reduction
27%
Reduced from 10m 24s to 7m 34s
Beta build time reduction
45%
Reduced from 14m 32s to 7m 52s
Build success rate improvement
97%-100%
Increased from around 80% when using Bazel
Technologies & Tools
Build System
Bazel
Used to improve build speed and reliability for iOS applications
Development Environment
Xcode
Previously used for iOS builds before transitioning to Bazel
Dependency Manager
Cocoapods
Considered during the evaluation of build tools
Build System
Buck
Considered during the evaluation of build tools
Key Actionable Insights
1Implement Bazel to streamline your iOS build process and improve reliability.Transitioning to Bazel can significantly reduce build times and increase the success rate of builds, as evidenced by Pinterest's experience.
2Focus on maintaining a modular architecture to enhance build management.Modularizing your application can simplify dependency management and improve build performance, making it easier to manage complex projects.
3Regularly track build performance metrics to identify bottlenecks.Measuring build times across different scenarios helps pinpoint regressions and focus improvement efforts effectively.
Common Pitfalls
1
Failing to maintain a consistent build environment can lead to unpredictable build outcomes.
Inconsistent environments can cause builds to pass locally but fail in CI, wasting developer time and creating frustration.
2
Neglecting to modularize applications may complicate dependency management.
Without a modular architecture, managing complex projects becomes difficult, leading to longer build times and increased maintenance overhead.
Related Concepts
Continuous Integration
Build Optimization
Modular Architecture