# Make

Source: https://wisconsin.twango.dev/sp25-cs400/topics/makefile

# Make

Make is a build automation tool that automatically builds executable programs and libraries from source code by reading a file called `Makefile`. The `Makefile` contains a set of rules used to build the target file(s) from the source file(s). The rules are written in the form of a recipe that specifies the dependencies and the commands to build the target file(s).

Declared prerequisite timestamps are tracked, so if a dependency is modified, `Make` will automatically rebuild the target file(s) that depend on it. This allows for incremental builds, where only the modified files are rebuilt, rather than rebuilding everything from scratch.

## Syntax

The syntax of a `Makefile` is as follows:

```make
target: dependencies
	command
```

- `target`: The file(s) to be built.
- `dependencies`: The file(s) that the target file(s) depend on.
- `command`: The command(s) to build the target file(s) from the dependencies.

Other features of `Makefile` include:

- Variables: Used to store values that can be referenced later in the file.
- Comments: Lines starting with `#` are treated as comments.
- Rules: Define how to build the target file(s) from the dependencies.
- Phony targets: Targets that do not represent actual files but are used as commands.

## Connections

- [[sp25-cs400/topics/index|Topic index]]

Obvious technical and formatting errors repaired.