Make
Contents
Introduction
Make is a utility that automatically builds executable programs and libraries from source code by reading files called makefiles which specify how to derive the target program. Make can decide where to start through topological sorting. Though Integrated Development Environments and language-specific compiler features can also be used to manage the build process in modern systems, make remains widely used, especially in Unix.
Though its primary use is as described above, make is not restricted to just creating executable programs from source files. Any process that involves transforming a dependency file to a target result (by executing some number of arbitrary commands) is applicable to make.