Behavior
Make is typically used to build executable programs and libraries from source code. Generally though, any process that involves transforming a source file to a target result (by executing arbitrary commands) is applicable to Make. For example, Make could be used to detect a change made to an image file (the source) and the transformation actions might be to convert the file to some specific format, copy the result into a content management system, and then send e-mail to a predefined set of users that the above actions were performed.
Make is invoked with a list of target file names to build as command-line arguments:
make TARGETWithout arguments, Make builds the first target that appears in its makefile, which is traditionally a symbolic "phony" target named all.
Make decides whether a target needs to be regenerated by comparing file modification times. This solves the problem of avoiding the building of files which are already up to date, but it fails when a file changes but its modification time stays in the past. Such changes could be caused by restoring an older version of a source file, or when a network filesystem is a source of files and its clock or timezone is not synchronized with the machine running Make. The user must handle this situation by forcing a complete build. Conversely, if a source file's modification time is in the future, it triggers unnecessary rebuilding, which may inconvenience users.
Read more about this topic: Make (software)
Famous quotes containing the word behavior:
“No one knows better than children how much they need the authority that protects, that sets the outer limits of behavior with known and prescribed consequences. As one little boy expressed it to his mother, “You care what I do.””
—Leontine Young (20th century)
“Children can’t make their own rules and no child is happy without them. The great need of the young is for authority that protects them against the consequences of their own primitive passions and their lack of experience, that provides with guides for everyday behavior and that builds some solid ground they can stand on for the future.”
—Leontine Young (20th century)