About Makefile Cheatsheet

Rules, variables, functions, pattern matching, advanced features. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the Cheatsheets collection.

Use Cases

• C/C++ developers managing compilation and linking steps
• DevOps engineers creating shortcut commands for Docker and deploy workflows
• Go developers using Make as a task runner for build and test scripts
• Teams standardizing common project commands across repositories

Tips

• Check the variable syntax section for = vs := differences
• Use pattern rules to avoid repeating similar build targets
• Copy the .PHONY declaration to prevent conflicts with file names

Fun Facts

• Make was created by Stuart Feldman at Bell Labs in 1976, making it one of the oldest build tools still in widespread use today.
• Makefiles require actual tab characters for indentation — spaces cause silent failures. This design decision has frustrated developers for nearly 50 years.
• Stuart Feldman received the ACM Software System Award in 2003 for Make, sharing the honor with tools like Unix, TCP/IP, and the World Wide Web.

FAQ

Does it cover GNU Make vs BSD Make?

Primarily GNU Make (what most developers use). BSD-specific incompatibilities are noted where GNU syntax breaks.

What about pattern rules?

Yes — `%.o: %.c` implicit rules are covered, along with .PHONY targets and automatic variables ($@, $<, $^).

Is it relevant for modern projects?

Very — Makefiles are a universal task runner. Even projects using npm scripts or justfiles often have a Makefile for devex consistency.

What about parallel builds?

Yes — `make -j N` for parallel, plus .NOTPARALLEL when targets have hidden dependencies.