Never Compile protoc Again
Blog post from Aspect Build
Protocol Buffers require a code generation step to turn .proto files into language-specific "stub" code for handling proto messages and, if using services, for implementing gRPC clients or servers. The typical compiler for this task is Google's protoc, often accessed via binary releases or plugins. However, within the Bazel build system, users traditionally compile protoc themselves, a process that can be cumbersome and inefficient due to imperfect caching and frequent build failures. To address these issues, Aspect engineer Sahin collaborated with the Bazel team to introduce a toolchain registration flag, enabling users to register precompiled binaries instead of compiling from source. This development aims to streamline workflows, although a comprehensive ecosystem change is necessary for full adoption. Efforts are underway to integrate these improvements into the official protobuf repository, enhancing the Bazel experience by reducing build times and improving efficiency, yet some workarounds and adaptations are still required to manage existing dependencies and improve release processes.