Extensions are files with the .bzl extension. Use the load statement to import a symbol from an extension.
load("//build_tools/rules:maprule.bzl", "maprule")
This code will load the file build_tools/rules/maprule.bzl and add the maprule symbol to the environment. This can be used to load new rules, functions or constants (e.g. a string, a list, etc.). Multiple symbols can be imported by using additional arguments to the call to load. Arguments must be string literals (no variable) and load statements must appear at top-level, i.e. they cannot be in a function body.
load also supports aliases, i.e. you can assign different names to the imported symbols.
load("//build_tools/rules:maprule.bzl", maprule_alias = "maprule")
You define multiple aliases within one load statement. Moreover, the argument list can contain both aliases and regular symbol names. The following example is perfectly legal (please note when to use quotation marks).
load("/path/to:my_rules.bzl", "some_rule", nice_alias = "some_other_rule")
Symbols starting with _ are private and cannot be loaded from other files. Visibility doesn‘t affect loading: you don’t need to use exports_files to make a .bzl file visible.
A macro is a function that instantiates rules. The function is evaluated as soon as the BUILD file is read. Bazel has little information about macros: if your macro generates a genrule, Bazel will behave as if you wrote the genrule. As a result, bazel query will only list the generated genrule.
A rule is more powerful than a macro, as it can access Bazel internals and have full control over what is going on. It may for example pass information to other rules.
If a macro becomes complex, it is often a good idea to make it a rule.
A build consists of three phases.
Loading phase. First, we load and evaluate all extensions and all BUILD files that are needed for the build. The execution of the BUILD files simply instantiates rules. This is where macros are evaluated.
Analysis phase. The code of the rules is executed (their implementation function), and actions are instantiated. An action describes how to generate a set of outputs from a set of inputs, e.g. “run gcc on hello.c and get hello.o”. It is important to note that we have to list explicitly which files will be generated before executing the actual commands.
Execution phase. Actions are executed, when at least one of their outputs is required. If a file is missing or if a command fails to generate one output, the build fails. Tests are run during this phase, as they are actions.
Bazel uses parallelism to read, parse and evaluate the .bzl files and BUILD files. A file is read at most once per build and the result of the evaluation is cached and reused. A file is evaluated only once all its dependencies (load() statements) have been resolved. By design, loading a .bzl file has no visible side-effect, it only defines values and functions.
The extension language (sometimes referred as “Skylark”) is a superset of the Core Build Language and its syntax is a subset of Python. It is designed to be simple, thread-safe and integrated with the BUILD language. It is not a general-purpose language and most Python features are not included.
The following constructs have been added to the Core Build Language: if statements, for loops, and function definitions. They behave like in Python. Here is an example to show the syntax:
def fizz_buzz(n): """Print Fizz Buzz numbers from 1 to n.""" for i in range(1, n + 1): s = "" if i % 3 == 0: s += "Fizz" if i % 5 == 0: s += "Buzz" print(s if s else i) fizz_buzz(20)
Because evaluation of BUILD and .bzl files is performed in parallel, there are some restrictions in order to guarantee thread-safety and determinism. Two mutable data structures are available: lists and dicts. Unlike in Python, sets are not mutable.
In a build, there are many “evaluation contexts”: each .bzl file and each BUILD file is loaded in a different context. Each rule is also analyzed in a separate context. We allow side-effects (e.g. appending a value to a list or deleting an entry in a dictionary) only on objects created during the current evaluation context.
For example, here is the content of the file foo.bzl:
var = [] def fct(): var.append(5) fct()
The variable var is created when foo.bzl is loaded. fct() is called during the same context, so it is safe. At the end of the evaluation, the definition var = [5] is exported. Any other file can load it, and it is possible that multiple files will load it at the same time. For this reason, the following code is not legal:
load(":foo.bzl", "var", "fct") var.append(6) # not allowed fct() # not allowed
Since the call to fct() attempts to mutate the shared variable var, it will fail. fct() can only be called during the evaluation of foo.bzl. It cannot be called from another file. It is also forbidden to call it during the analysis phase (i.e. when a custom rule is analyzed).
In addition to the mutability restrictions, there are also differences with Python:
All global values are constant (they cannot be reassigned).
x += y is syntactic sugar for x = x + y. Even if x and y are lists, dicts or sets, the original value is not mutated, so references to x that were assigned before the operation will see the old value. This behavior is temporary, and will follow Python semantics in the future.
The + operator is defined for dictionaries, returning an immutable concatenated dictionary created from the entries of the original dictionaries. In case of duplicate keys, we use values from the second operand. If you need compatibility with Python, we suggest this syntax: dict(a.items() + b.items()).
Dictionaries have deterministic order when iterating (sorted by key).
Sets use a custom order when iterating (see documentation).
Recursion is not allowed.
Loops iterate over a shallow copy of the collection. If the collection is a list or dictionary that is modified during iteration, this will not affect what values get bound to the loop variable or variables. The changes are still visible if you directly access the collection.
The following Python features are not supported: