This best-selling manual is indispensable to free software system maintainers. The GNU Make manual, written by the program's original authors and current maintainer, is the definitive tutorial. It is carefully designed to be useful to all levels of users, and includes an introductory chapter for novices. The Make utility automates the process of compilation; it is especially useful when the source files of large programs change. GNU Make is becoming increasingly popular as it is able to meet the needs of free software system hackers in system management. It is a small program with a lot of power.

This book will show you:

* How to write your own makefiles

* Make's rule syntax and how to write your own rules

* How the Make utility can be configured to automatically put binary and source files in the right places.

* How to use make to create archive files automatically

* Define, set and use Make's variables

* How Make uses targets so that you can broaden or narrow Make's recompilation efforts on demand.

* And much more!

This manual provides a complete explanation of Make, both the basics and extended features. There is also a convenient Quick Reference appendix for experts.

Richard M. Stallman is the founder of the Free Software movement. He has also written the "Emacs Reference Manual" and Using and Porting GNU CC. Roland McGrath is the original author of the GNU Make Program. Paul D. Smith has been the maintainer for many years.