In the world of developers, having a reliable and fast build system is essential. Jane Street’s journey from Jenga to Dune showcases the evolution of their custom build systems for OCaml projects. Initially created to streamline their own workflow, Jenga was released to the public with high hopes but received minimal adoption due to compatibility issues. The unexpected success of Jbuilder, later renamed Dune, was fueled by its impressive speed and versatility. Over time, Dune became the preferred choice over Jenga, leading to a challenging yet ultimately successful migration process for Jane Street’s massive codebase. Today, Dune stands as a robust and efficient build system for OCaml projects, with ongoing improvements and a dedicated team driving its development.
https://blog.janestreet.com/how-we-accidentally-built-a-better-build-system-for-ocaml-index/