With py_test (PAR-based) rules I can dev/test iterate on an individual test by running the following:
bazel test //foo:foo_tests
- find and update an issue in dependency bar.py
- run
bazel test //foo:foo_tests without rebuilding the PAR because the runfiles are symlinked
The iteration cycle (1 and 2 above) is fast because it essentially lays out the zipfile in the runfiles directory and symlinks files that I may want to edit.
With the PEX rules I cannot do this as the only files that are symlinked are the srcs files from the test itself. This means that I have to rebuild the PEX each time I have to edit a dependent file which makes life quite tedious for any serious development.
What should happen is that the runfiles tree is created similarly to what PAR does.