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Makefiles are underrated. The concept is so simple – it is basically a dependency graph with attached shell scripts – yet so powerful. Not just for building sof

Makefiles are underrated. The concept is so simple – it is basically a dependency graph with attached shell scripts – yet so powerful. Not just for building software, but also for everyday tasks where you need some files to be updated under some condition. I recommend mk (original make replacement for Plan 9, available for different OSes through Plan9Port [0,1]). It has a bit more uniform syntax, and can check that the dependency graph is wellfounded. [0] https://github.com/9fans/plan9port https://github.com/9fans/plan9port [1] https://swtch.com/plan9port/ https://swtch.com/plan9port/

gcb0 10y ago
another advantage of make is that every host have it. like vim. mk is not there yet.
- viraptor 10y ago
  Did you mean "vi"? Lots of systems don't install vim by default.
  - taneq 10y ago
    And contrariwise, lots of hosts install "vi" which actually seems to be vim. Aah, 'standards'. :P
  - gcb0 10y ago
    not since 1990. :) and even if that is the case, I'm still better being a vim user at a system that only has vi and ed, then any other editor's user.
vacri 10y ago
I've been getting into Makefiles more over the past year, and still a noob at it. I see them as a necessary evil - they're baroque and they hurt... and yet they make other things easier. I'm using them less to compile stuff and more to package/upload things, but they certainly have their place.