The challenge
The software engineers at our client's company were working with the build system, Pants, which failed to meet their needs, causing frustration and delays in the development process. The developers faced stability and performance issues with IntelliJ, their main IDE, limiting their productivity and the company's swift innovation due to the excessively long compile times. Additionally, the team required the integration of custom Python development practices. However, the current tools, such as VS Code caused support challenges.
Our client recognized the need for updated tools that met their current needs and were agile enough to incorporate improvements seamlessly. The decision fell immediately on Bazel as a replacement, a build system celebrated for its speed and robustness. Given that the challenges were interconnected, they required a holistic solution to enhance the overall development experience for their engineers. At this crucial juncture, they sought assistance from VirtusLab.
The solution
VirtusLab helped with the strategic migration to Bazel. This migration minimized disturbance to the company's operations. Our team provided enhanced IDE support, transforming IntelliJ into a more dependable developer environment. We configured VS Code to support Python development through tailored extensions and plugins, adhering to the company's specific build protocols.
Our commitment to the company's objectives led us to create IDE Probe, an automated testing framework, and Bazel IDE, a command-line utility, to simplify project setups. These pioneering solutions were integrated with the current technology stack to improve the developers' experience and efficiency.
We continually refined the build system's performance and integrated feedback to polish our solutions. This approach ensured compliance with the company's exacting standards and promoted ongoing enhancement.
The results
Through our partnership, the client transitioned from a development environment that was once a friction to one that now propels innovation. The outcomes were striking:
- Improved IDE performance and developer experience due to faster compile times and better tooling.
- Received customized IDE integration with Bazel.
- Successful integration of Python support for developers and data scientists.
- Creation and integration of IDE Probe for automated testing.
- Migration of some developers to build tools like Bloop faster, drastically reducing wait times for code compilation.
- Continuing improvement in IDE stability and feature set.
Tech-stack
Build Systems: Pants, Bazel
IDEs: IntelliJ IDEA, Visual Studio Code
Languages: Scala, Python
Additional Tools: IDE Probe, Bazel IDE, Bloop
The tech-stack
Build Systems
IDEs
Languages
Additional Tools
Partner flexibly with VirtusLab
Use one or a combination of engagement models to suit your needs.
Take the first step to a sustained competitive edge for your business
Let's connectVirtusLab's work has met the mark several times over, and their latest project is no exception. The team is efficient, hard-working, and trustworthy. Customers can expect a proactive team that drives results.
VirtusLab's engineers are truly Strapi extensions experts. Their knowledge and expertise in the area of Strapi plugins gave us the opportunity to lift our multi-brand CMS implementation to a different level.
VirtusLab has been an incredible partner since the early development of Scala 3, essential to a mature and stable Scala 3 ecosystem.
VirtusLab's strength is its knowledge of the latest trends and technologies for creating UIs and its ability to design complex applications. The VirtusLab team's in-depth knowledge, understanding, and experience of MIS systems have been invaluable to us in developing our product. The team is professional and delivers on time – we greatly appreciated this efficiency when working with them.