GNU Make & Makefile To Build C/C++ Projects(LINUX,MAC)[2026]

Download or clone the complete source code from the GitHub link provided. Always read the README. It has all the details.

The problem in the above makefile

Incremental build issue

Fix the above issue by updating the makefile

Step by step, we will improve the makefile once we feel we really should do it!

Need Of Variables/Macro

Declaring Variables, accessing variables

Make tool internal variables & their purpose($^ $< $@)

How do you generate object files using makefile?

• ADD LINKER FLAG TO MAKEFILE

• Revisit source code.

• Understand the need for a linker flag.

• Understand how to link the library to an executable

• Reason for linking math library

• Reason for not linking libc while using printf() from stdio.h

• How to know what linker flag to use?

• Where to add the linker flag?

PLACEMENT OF COMPILER FLAG

Example code demonstrates why we should use a warning flag

Unused variable detection technique

Feel the necessity of compiler flag

Where to keep compiler flag

Explanation of Wall & Werror

Improving our makefile by adding Compiler flags(CFLAGS) and Linker flags(LDFLAGS)

Modify mod1 C code to C++ code

Concatenate variables in the makefile

Accessing the path of libs, and objs in a robust way!

• Clean targets

Copy module 1 makefile & do the necessary modifications to achieve makefile for .so

Use -fPIC in Makefile

test target introduced to generate test binary

build_dir target introduced to generate directories

What happens if the output binary name has having .cpp extension?

Where Are We(MOD-2)

'install' target is introduced to copy headers to share header location to make its access easier.

Implementing MOD-3

Modify MOD-1 Makefile to create mod-3 Makefile

Without writing the path of header files in the C/C++ source file, how to position it in a makefile? (INCLUDE FILE search path)

1. More optimization in Makefile.

• Cmd to use for static lib generation

• What is a static library

• Why rcs

• Understand changes needed for converting .so Makefile to '.a' makefile

• Writing test module to verify if generated '.a' is usable.

• Command line demo(linking to .a file)

• MOD-5 Source code & Makefile

• Add 'install' target to mod-4

• Minimum what we should know for writing makefile.

• Place for compiler & linker flags.

• Understand CFLAGS & LDFLAGS.

Accessing macro in the program without defining it.

Passing macro from the command line. The same way can be followed inside a makefile.

• Demonstrate std::async

• Why need -std

• When -std is mandatory

• Where to write it in makefile

• Compiling using C++2a

• C++20 Vs C++17 Vs C++2a

• How to detect the C/C++ standard to use?

• What is Lazy initialization & Instant initialization

• Why == & :=

• When := is used

• Failing under a situation where == fails and := solves the problem

Demonstrate usages of .PHONY target

How to decide the target can be PHONY

If not defining PHONY, what problem may arise?

From the understanding of makefile from above PROJECT#01, we are preparing a template which can be used in future projects.

Additionally, we are adding the following:

BUILD_TIME_STAMP which will be helpful to track the release binaries' build time(Helpful if any issue comes from the customer place. Detecting if the shared package is correct or not)

INSTALLATION_PATH: This makes the system handy for deployment.

Cross Compilation feature

A better way of accessing bins, libs and other folders

Copy headers during the building

Understand each attribute used in the template makefile.

Object name collision issue

Understanding attributes used in makefile

Understanding attributes used in makefile

Discuss What we are going to do in this project. (Project explanation with High-Level Design)

Project Source code explanation. Discuss about the plan for makefile & common makefile(Single make to build all modules)

How to use the makefile template to create an employee static library.

How to use the makefile template to create database manager shared object(Dynamic Library).

Create a makefile for the UI Controller module from the template that we have already created.

See how the build is successful but later finds the run fails.

See how run fails. It is a common issue you might have seen in realtime projects. .so not found!

Fix .so not found issue in MAC

Fix .so not found issue in Linux

What Will Learn In Upcoming Release!

1. How to write a common makefile to call other makefiles.

2. Build using single make.

3. Run the binary. (Run from such a location from where our executable should be able to find the dependent libs)

• One way: Make our binary run from any location and detect the dependent libraries.

• Tips on how to debug dependency issues in MAC & Linux.

• Another robust way to run our binary from anywhere which can detect the dependent libraries.

• Do export inside the makefile.

How To Do CROSS-COMPILER Setup for C & C++.