Make

Build automation with Makefiles. Define targets, dependencies, and recipes for compiling and running tasks.

53 commands

Browse by Topic

Getting Started

Quick setup and installation

4commands

Running

Running make

9commands

Debugging

Debugging Makefiles

6commands

Targets

Common targets

8commands

Variables

Variables & automatic

9commands

Syntax

Makefile syntax

10commands

Modern Patterns

Modern Makefile patterns

7commands

Check Make version

$ make --version

Display the installed GNU Make version

Install Make (macOS)

$ xcode-select --install

Install Make via Xcode Command Line Tools on macOS

Install Make (Linux)

$ sudo apt install build-essential -y

Install Make and essential build tools on Debian/Ubuntu Linux

Run default target

$ make

Execute the first target defined in the Makefile

Run default target

$ make

Execute first target in Makefile.

Run specific target

$ make build

Execute named target.

Multiple targets

$ make clean build test

Run multiple targets in order.

Use specific Makefile

$ make -f custom.mk

Use alternative Makefile.

Change directory

$ make -C subdir

Run make in different directory.

Pass variable

$ make CFLAGS="-O2 -Wall" build

Override variable on command line.

Parallel jobs

$ make -j4

Run 4 jobs in parallel.

Keep going on error

$ make -k

Continue as much as possible after error.

Silent mode

$ make -s

Don't print commands as executed.

Dry run

$ make -n

Print commands without executing.

Print database

$ make -p

Print internal database and rules.

Debug mode

$ make -d

Print debugging information.

Print why

$ make --debug=why target

Show why target is being remade.

Print variable

$ make -p | grep 'VAR ='

Find variable value in database.

Trace execution

$ make SHELL='sh -x'

Trace shell commands.

Build all

$ make all

Build all targets (convention).

Clean build

$ make clean

Remove build artifacts.

Install

$ make install

Install to system directories.

Uninstall

$ make uninstall

Remove installed files.

Run tests

$ make test

Run test suite.

Check

$ make check

Verify build (often same as test).

Distribution

$ make dist

Create distributable archive.

Help

$ make help

Show available targets (if defined).

Simple variable

$ CC := gcc

Immediate assignment (expanded once).

Recursive variable

$ CFLAGS = $(OPTS) -Wall

Deferred assignment (expanded each use).

Append to variable

$ CFLAGS += -O2

Add to existing value.

Conditional set

$ CC ?= gcc

Set only if not already defined.

Environment export

$ export PATH := $(PATH):./bin

Export variable to shell.

Automatic $@

$ $(CC) -o $@ $^

$@ = target name.

Automatic $<

$ $(CC) -c $<

$< = first prerequisite.

Automatic $^

$ $(CC) -o $@ $^

$^ = all prerequisites.

Pattern stem

$ %.o: %.c $(CC) -c $< -o $@

$* = matched pattern stem.

Basic rule

$ target: prerequisites recipe

Standard Makefile rule structure.

Phony target

$ .PHONY: clean test build

Declare non-file targets.

Pattern rule

$ %.o: %.c $(CC) -c $< -o $@

Rule for multiple targets with pattern.

Include file

$ include config.mk

Include another Makefile.

Conditional

$ ifeq ($(DEBUG),1) CFLAGS += -g endif

Conditional variable setting.

Define function

$ define COMPILE $(CC) -c $1 -o $2 endef

Define multi-line variable/function.

Call function

$ $(call COMPILE,src.c,src.o)

Invoke defined function.

Shell function

$ FILES := $(shell find src -name '*.c')

Capture shell command output.

Wildcard function

$ SRCS := $(wildcard src/*.c)

Expand wildcard pattern.

Substitution

$ OBJS := $(SRCS:.c=.o)

Replace .c with .o extension.

Self-documenting help

$ help: @grep -E '^[a-zA-Z_-]+:.*?## .*$$' $(MAKEFILE_LIST) | sort | awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*?## "}; {printf "\033[36m%-15s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2}'

Generate help from comments (## comment).

Docker target

$ docker-build: docker build -t myapp:$(VERSION) .

Build Docker image.

Default goal

$ .DEFAULT_GOAL := help

Set default target to help.

Version from git

$ VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags --always)

Get version from git tags.

Colored output

$ @echo "\033[32mBuild complete\033[0m"

Print colored status messages.

Check dependencies

$ check-deps: @which docker > /dev/null || (echo "Docker required" && exit 1)

Verify required tools installed.

Environment file

$ include .env export

Load environment from .env file.

Discussion

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Make

Build automation with Makefiles. Define targets, dependencies, and recipes for compiling and running tasks.

53 commands

Browse by Topic

Getting Started

Quick setup and installation

4commands

Running

Running make

9commands

Debugging

Debugging Makefiles

6commands

Targets

Common targets

8commands

Variables

Variables & automatic

9commands

Syntax

Makefile syntax

10commands

Modern Patterns

Modern Makefile patterns

7commands

Check Make version

$ make --version

Display the installed GNU Make version

Install Make (macOS)

$ xcode-select --install

Install Make via Xcode Command Line Tools on macOS

Install Make (Linux)

$ sudo apt install build-essential -y

Install Make and essential build tools on Debian/Ubuntu Linux

Run default target

$ make

Execute the first target defined in the Makefile

Run default target

$ make

Execute first target in Makefile.

Run specific target

$ make build

Execute named target.

Multiple targets

$ make clean build test

Run multiple targets in order.

Use specific Makefile

$ make -f custom.mk

Use alternative Makefile.

Change directory

$ make -C subdir

Run make in different directory.

Pass variable

$ make CFLAGS="-O2 -Wall" build

Override variable on command line.

Parallel jobs

$ make -j4

Run 4 jobs in parallel.

Keep going on error

$ make -k

Continue as much as possible after error.

Silent mode

$ make -s

Don't print commands as executed.

Dry run

$ make -n

Print commands without executing.

Print database

$ make -p

Print internal database and rules.

Debug mode

$ make -d

Print debugging information.

Print why

$ make --debug=why target

Show why target is being remade.

Print variable

$ make -p | grep 'VAR ='

Find variable value in database.

Trace execution

$ make SHELL='sh -x'

Trace shell commands.

Build all

$ make all

Build all targets (convention).

Clean build

$ make clean

Remove build artifacts.

Install

$ make install

Install to system directories.

Uninstall

$ make uninstall

Remove installed files.

Run tests

$ make test

Run test suite.

Check

$ make check

Verify build (often same as test).

Distribution

$ make dist

Create distributable archive.

Help

$ make help

Show available targets (if defined).

Simple variable

$ CC := gcc

Immediate assignment (expanded once).

Recursive variable

$ CFLAGS = $(OPTS) -Wall

Deferred assignment (expanded each use).

Append to variable

$ CFLAGS += -O2

Add to existing value.

Conditional set

$ CC ?= gcc

Set only if not already defined.

Environment export

$ export PATH := $(PATH):./bin

Export variable to shell.

Automatic $@

$ $(CC) -o $@ $^

$@ = target name.

Automatic $<

$ $(CC) -c $<

$< = first prerequisite.

Automatic $^

$ $(CC) -o $@ $^

$^ = all prerequisites.

Pattern stem

$ %.o: %.c $(CC) -c $< -o $@

$* = matched pattern stem.

Basic rule

$ target: prerequisites recipe

Standard Makefile rule structure.

Phony target

$ .PHONY: clean test build

Declare non-file targets.

Pattern rule

$ %.o: %.c $(CC) -c $< -o $@

Rule for multiple targets with pattern.

Include file

$ include config.mk

Include another Makefile.

Conditional

$ ifeq ($(DEBUG),1) CFLAGS += -g endif

Conditional variable setting.

Define function

$ define COMPILE $(CC) -c $1 -o $2 endef

Define multi-line variable/function.

Call function

$ $(call COMPILE,src.c,src.o)

Invoke defined function.

Shell function

$ FILES := $(shell find src -name '*.c')

Capture shell command output.

Wildcard function

$ SRCS := $(wildcard src/*.c)

Expand wildcard pattern.

Substitution

$ OBJS := $(SRCS:.c=.o)

Replace .c with .o extension.

Self-documenting help

$ help: @grep -E '^[a-zA-Z_-]+:.*?## .*$$' $(MAKEFILE_LIST) | sort | awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*?## "}; {printf "\033[36m%-15s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2}'

Generate help from comments (## comment).

Docker target

$ docker-build: docker build -t myapp:$(VERSION) .

Build Docker image.

Default goal

$ .DEFAULT_GOAL := help

Set default target to help.

Version from git

$ VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags --always)

Get version from git tags.

Colored output

$ @echo "\033[32mBuild complete\033[0m"

Print colored status messages.

Check dependencies

$ check-deps: @which docker > /dev/null || (echo "Docker required" && exit 1)

Verify required tools installed.

Environment file

$ include .env export

Load environment from .env file.

Discussion

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