Makefile cheatsheetEdit

Automatic variables

• $@: File being generated (ie. the "target" in Make parlance).
• $<: First pre-requisite.
• $^: All prerequisites (separated by spaces).
• $?: All prerequisites newer than the target (separated by spaces).

Functions

• wildcard
• addprefix

Order-only prerequisites

# "target" depends on "dependency" but last-modified date is not considered
target: | dependency

FORCE targets

# "target" always gets built...
target: FORCE

# ...because it depends on this non-existent file
FORCE:

See also:

• https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Force-Targets.html

External resources

• List of automatic variables ($@ etc): https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Automatic-Variables.html
• http://www.schacherer.de/frank/technology/tools/make.html