2.5.2. Example: Building a C program using a Makefile

Procedure

1. Create a directory hellomake:

   $ mkdir hellomake

2. Change to the created directory:

   $ cd hellomake

3. Create a file hello.c with the following contents:

   #include <stdio.h>
   
   int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
     printf("Hello, World!\n");
     return 0;
   }

4. Create a file Makefile with the following contents:

   CC=gcc
   CFLAGS=-c -Wall
   SOURCE=hello.c
   OBJ=$(SOURCE:.c=.o)
   EXE=hello
   
   all: $(SOURCE) $(EXE)
   
   $(EXE): $(OBJ)
           $(CC) $(OBJ) -o $@
   
   %.o: %.c
           $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $< -o $@
   
   clean:
           rm -rf $(OBJ) $(EXE)

   重要

   The Makefile recipe lines must start with the tab character. When you copy this example from the documentation, the cut-and-paste process might paste spaces instead of tabs. If this happens, correct the issue manually.

5. Run make:

   $ make

   gcc -c -Wall hello.c -o hello.o
   gcc hello.o -o hello

   This creates an executable file hello.

6. Run the executable file hello:

   $ ./hello

   Hello, World!

7. Run the Makefile target clean to remove the created files:

   $ make clean

   rm -rf hello.o hello