[sleepydog]

As bazel is not limited to Go it can be nicer when the Go programs or libraries are part of a more diverse system. For example, you can build a Go library, along with the rules to generate a protocol buffer package, along with the C library that the Go library interfaces with, along with some static assets that you want to compile into your program all from the same BUILD file, and are built from a single command. I think to do at least some of these things, if they are possible with the go tool at all, you would have to run 'go generate' first.

Bazel also come with a query tool that makes it easy to tell what other targets your package depends on. Go also has such a tool, but again it's limited to Go dependencies.

I believe Uber has been using bazel for awhile now, and probably were invested in it well before the Go module cache was a thing, so Bazel's build cache is an important optimization.