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I'm sorry if I missed this, but why would you use make instead of bash?

by rb2k_ 14y ago

lloeki 14y ago
make figures out which files need updating make allows to write pattern rules (.c.o:, or %.o: %.c) you don't need to move files out of the 'inbox' to ignore them regenerating a file is a touch(1) away make is descriptive, not imperative (invaluable readability when you're coming back on it years later) should you ever need a second transformative step or a new dependency, it's trivial to insert, and make will figure stuff out make can trash intermediate results automatically make is crazy fast make variables are not environment variables make has multiple variable assignations, resulting in some early/late evaluation system (early with :=, late with =, $() is always late unless part of a :=) make outputs commands as they're executed (not with a global) make outputs nothing when commands are prefixed with @ (not with a global) make interrupts itself on a chain failure each make recipe line is executed in a distinct shell You can set bash to do some of those things, or you can write bash code that do some of those, but most of the time you end up just coercing bash into behaving like make. Of course I would not write everything in make. But knowing what make can do makes it the obvious choice for some tasks, and helps you coming up with a robust task/generator system in a snap, whereas coming up with a task/generator system in bash quickly is already not that easy, and making it robust even less.
- stonefroot 14y ago
  "make is crazy fast" Make calls the shell in order to run programs, correct? (IOW, does make call execve directly, as the shell does?)
  - lloeki 14y ago
    Indeed, execve in exec_command (job.c). That does not make it slow, since it's the very last part of the game, and one you could not really do without.

I'm sorry if I missed this, but why would you use make instead of bash?

by rb2k_ 14y ago

I'm sorry if I missed this, but why would you use make instead of bash?

make figures out which files need updating make allows to write pattern rules (.c.o:, or %.o: %.c) you don't need to move files out of the 'inbox' to ignore them regenerating a file is a touch(1) away make is descriptive, not imperative (invaluable readability when you're coming back on it years later) should you ever need a second transformative step or a new dependency, it's trivial to insert, and make will figure stuff out make can trash intermediate results automatically make is crazy fast make variables are not environment variables make has multiple variable assignations, resulting in some early/late evaluation system (early with :=, late with =, $() is always late unless part of a :=) make outputs commands as they're executed (not with a global) make outputs nothing when commands are prefixed with @ (not with a global) make interrupts itself on a chain failure each make recipe line is executed in a distinct shell You can set bash to do some of those things, or you can write bash code that do some of those, but most of the time you end up just coercing bash into behaving like make. Of course I would not write everything in make. But knowing what make can do makes it the obvious choice for some tasks, and helps you coming up with a robust task/generator system in a snap, whereas coming up with a task/generator system in bash quickly is already not that easy, and making it robust even less.

stonefroot 14y ago
"make is crazy fast" Make calls the shell in order to run programs, correct? (IOW, does make call execve directly, as the shell does?)
- lloeki 14y ago
  Indeed, execve in exec_command (job.c). That does not make it slow, since it's the very last part of the game, and one you could not really do without.