makefile

A script which tells the Unix program "make" how to build a

particular computer program or set of programs. A makefile

contains variable assignments and rules of the form

target: inputs

commands

which say if any of the files in "inputs" has been modified

more recently than file "target" (or if the target does not

exist) then execute "commands", which will normally bulid

"target" from "inputs".

If make is run with no arguments, it looks for a makefile

called "Makefile" or "makefile".

(1995-01-05)