A Simple Introduction to

Make Utility
CS330E – Elements of Software Engineering I
Dr. Fares Fraij
On-line resources

 Makefile manual: https://

www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/make.html
 Makefile Quick Reference: https://
www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Quick-Reference.h
tml
Outline

 What is make utility and makefile?

 What are the benefits of make utility?
 Do I need to install make utility?
 What is the basic structure of a makefile?
 How does make utility work (use cases)?
 In class practice
What is make utility and makefile?

 Make utility is an automation tool for running and

compiling your programs efficiently.
 Specifically, it’s a handy tool if you want to run or update
a task when certain files are updated.
 The make utility requires a file, Makefile (or makefile),
which defines set of tasks to be executed.
 make reads the makefile in the current directory
What are the benefits of make utility?

 make utility also helps in aliasing commands that span

over multilines.
 You group the commands under a target and keep calling the
target to refer to the group of commands.
 If you have hundred files that you need to compile
together to create a program, you may not want to type in
a thousand file name in the command line.
 You also do not want to retype the file names each time you
change the source files. We need to recompile and link the files
that have only been changed.
Do I need to install make utility?

 On UTCS machines and Mac OS, make utility is probably

installed.
 On Windows machines, you need to installed MinGW
(for MinGW installation instructions, read “start here” tab on
the class webpage).
What is the basic structure of a
makefile?
A very simple makefile may consist of the following.

target: dependencies
action

 makefiles are whitespace sensitive.

 “target” is all the way to the left
 “action” has a tab right before it
How does make work (use case)?

A very simple makefile may consist of the following.

target: dependencies
action
 Use case for executing the command “make target”:
 When there are dependencies:
When one of the dependencies is changed, action will be
invoked to produce target.
 When there are NO dependencies: the command will run
the corresponding action(s) from the command line.
How does make work (use case)?

A very simple makefile may consist of the following.

target: dependencies
action

 Use case for running the command “make”, i.e.,

without specifying a target:
 Generally, the first target in the makefile (from
top to button) will be considered.
In class practice
 Task: We are going to create a simple makefile
 Shell: You can use either “git-bash” or “bash” that comes
with “git” installation.
 On my machine, “bash” exists at “C:\Program Files\Git\bin”
 To call “bash”, you may need to add the path “C:\Program
Files\Git\bin” to your environment variable.
 Text editor: I’ll use “notepad++”
In class practice
 On your machine, create a Python file “Avg.py” that contains
the following.

def avg(marks):
assert len(marks) != 0
return sum(marks)/len(marks)

print("The average of 1, 2, and 3 is", avg([1,2,3]))

 In your shell, type in the following command.

$ python Avg.py
The average of 1, 2, and 3 is 2.0
In class practice
 On your machine, create a Python file “Avg.py” that contains the following.

def avg(marks):
assert len(marks) != 0
return sum(marks)/len(marks)

print("The average of 1, 2, and 3 is", avg([1,2,3]))

 To redirect the standard output stream to the file “Output.txt”, we use the operator “>”
(it will not be visible in the terminal)

$ python Avg.py > Output.txt

 To list the contents of the file “Output.txt”

$ cat Output.txt
The average of 1, 2, and 3 is 2.0

 Remove Output.txt
$ rm Output.txt
Aliasing a command using a makefile
Now, we are going to alias the command “python Avg.py >
Output.txt” using a makefile.
 In the same folder where “Avg.py” is, create a “makefile” that
has the following.

Output.txt:
@echo "Creating Output.txt"
python Avg.py > Output.txt

Note: You need to save the file as “makefile” with no extension.

To do that in “notepad++”, you choose “All types (*.*)” from the
“Save as type:” menu.
Aliasing a command using a makefile
Now, we are going to alias the command “python Avg.py >
Output.txt” using a makefile.
 In the same folder where “Avg.py” is, create a “makefile” that has
the following.

Output.txt:
@echo “Creating Output.txt"
python Avg.py > Output.txt

 In your shell, run the command “make Output.txt”.

$ make Output.txt
creating Output.txt
python Avg.py > Output.txt
Aliasing a command using a makefile
 To make sure that “Output.txt” was created and has the expected output, run the
following command in your shell.

$ cat Output.txt
The average of 1, 2, and 3 is 2.0

 Open “Avg.py” and add anything such as a comment and save.

 When you re-run “make Output.txt”.
$ make Output.txt
make.exe": ` Output.txt ' is up to date.

 Make interprets the rule to mean "execute Output.txt target to create the file
named Output.txt ". Since the “Output.txt” is already there, and its dependencies
didn't change (in our case there are no dependencies), nothing will be done.
Aliasing a command using a makefile

 To instruct make to execute a certain action even when the

corresponding target already exists and its corresponding
dependencies didn't change, we include that target in a .PHONY
target. Our makefile will look as follows.

.PHONY: Output.txt
Output.txt:
@echo "creating Output.txt"
python Avg.py > Output.txt
Aliasing a command using a makefile

 Now, when executing “make Output.txt”, the action will be

executed.
$ make Output.txt
creating Output.txt
python Avg.py > Output.txt
Aliasing a command using a makefile
 It’s not necessary for the target to be a filename, it might be just a
name for the recipe. Update the makefile by adding two more targets.

.PHONY: Output.txt
Output.txt:
@echo "creating Output.txt"
python Avg.py > Output.txt
create:
@echo "creating newfile.txt"
touch newfile.txt
clean:
@echo "deleteing Output.txt and newfile.txt"
rm Output.txt
rm newfile.txt
Aliasing a command using a makefile

 Now, you can make any of these targets. For example, you can run
make on each target as follows.
$ make Output.txt
$ make create
$make clean

 But what will happen if you run the make command without specifying
any target?

$ make
Aliasing a command using a makefile

 “Output.txt” target will only be executed because it is the

first target in the makefile. This target is called the
default target (or default goal).

 You can manually specify your default goal by placing the

following at the beginning of the makefile.

.DEFAULT_GOAL := create
Aliasing a command using a makefile

If you have more than one file to be considered as the default goal,
you can place a target at the beginning of the makefile and specify
these files as dependencies.

all: Output.txt create

Now, if you type in “make”, the targets “Output.txt” and “create”

will be executed.

Type in “make clean” to delete the files “Output.txt” and

“newfile.txt”.
Updating dependencies triggers actions
 Now, we’re going to use “Avg.py”.
 Let’s delete the contents of the previous makefile and
only add the following rule.

Output.txt: Avg.py
python Avg.py > Output.txt
cat output.txt

What is the main difference between this new “Output.txt”

rule and the old one?
Output.txt:
@echo "creating Output.txt"
python Avg.py > Output.txt
Updating dependencies triggers actions

 In your shell, type in the following commands.

$ make Output.txt
python Avg.py > Output.txt
$ cat output.txt
The average of 1, 2, and 3 is 2.0
 Re-type the same command.
$ make Output.txt
make.exe": `Output.txt' is up to date.
Updating dependencies triggers actions

 Open “Avg.py” and change something for example by

adding a comment and then save.
 $ make Output.txt
python Avg.py > Output.txt
cat output.txt
The average of 1, 2, and 3 is 2.0

Changing the dependency file caused make to re-execute the

actions.
References

 https://opensource.com/article/18/8/what-how-makefile