February 6, 2011
Ninja build system open-sourced
Evan Martin open-sourced Ninja on February 6, 2011 — a minimal build system focused on maximum compile speed.
What it was for
Ninja executes build graphs generated by CMake, Meson, or GN — no string manipulation, just fast dependency tracking and parallel compilation. ChromeGoogle's web browser — built on Chromium and the most widely used browser worldwide.'s Linux builds dropped from 10 seconds to under one second for incremental rebuilds. Example: CMake emits `build.ninja`; `ninja -C build` compiles only changed translation units.
Companies
Why it's here
Ninja became the low-level backend that made large C++ projects rebuild in seconds.
Why it mattered
It separated build configuration (CMake/Meson) from execution, setting the pattern for modern native builds.
What it solved
Make-based incremental builds were too slow for million-line codebases like ChromiumGoogle's open-source browser project — the foundation for Chrome, Edge, and other modern browsers..
Media
ImageNinja (build system)Software: VideoLAN, dav1d authors, and developers Screenshot: VulcanSphere, BSD, via Wikimedia Commons
Related
- CMake releasedAugust 31, 2000
- Meson first releasedMarch 2, 2013
- Bazel open-sourcedMarch 24, 2015
- Make build tool createdApril 1976