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(make.info.gz) make Deduces

Info Catalog (make.info.gz) Variables Simplify (make.info.gz) Introduction (make.info.gz) Combine By Prerequisite
 
 2.5 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.
  Using Implicit Rules 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
  Phony Targets, and  Errors in Commands Errors.)
 
    Because implicit rules are so convenient, they are important.  You
 will see them used frequently.
 
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