GNU Info

(make.info)make Deduces

---

Next: Combine By Prerequisite Prev: Variables Simplify Up: Introduction

---

Enter node , (file) or (file)node

Letting `make' Deduce the Commands
==================================

   It is not necessary to spell out the commands for compiling the
individual C source files, because `make' can figure them out: it has an
"implicit rule" for updating a `.o' file from a correspondingly named
`.c' file using a `cc -c' command.  For example, it will use the
command `cc -c main.c -o main.o' to compile `main.c' into `main.o'.  We
can therefore omit the commands from the rules for the object files.
Note: Using Implicit Rules.

   When a `.c' file is used automatically in this way, it is also
automatically added to the list of prerequisites.  We can therefore omit
the `.c' files from the prerequisites, provided we omit the commands.

   Here is the entire example, with both of these changes, and a
variable `objects' as suggested above:

     objects = main.o kbd.o command.o display.o \
               insert.o search.o files.o utils.o
     
     edit : $(objects)
             cc -o edit $(objects)
     
     main.o : defs.h
     kbd.o : defs.h command.h
     command.o : defs.h command.h
     display.o : defs.h buffer.h
     insert.o : defs.h buffer.h
     search.o : defs.h buffer.h
     files.o : defs.h buffer.h command.h
     utils.o : defs.h
     
     .PHONY : clean
     clean :
             -rm edit $(objects)

This is how we would write the makefile in actual practice.  (The
complications associated with `clean' are described elsewhere.  See
Note: Phony Targets, and Note: Errors in Commands.)

   Because implicit rules are so convenient, they are important.  You
will see them used frequently.