Chapter 16. The GNU make Utility

The make program is a long time mainstay of the Unix toolset. It automates the building of software and documentation based on a specification of dependencies among files; e.g., object files that depend upon program source files, or PDF files that depend upon documentation program input files. GNU make is the standard version for GNU/Linux and Mac OS X.

This chapter presents the following topics:

• Conceptual overview

• Command-line syntax

• Makefile lines

• Macros

• Special target names

• Writing command lines

For more information, see Managing Projects with GNU make and GNU Make: A Program for Directing Recompilation, both listed in the Bibliography.

The software download site for GNU make is ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/make/.