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<h1 class="section">What Name to Give Your Makefile</h1> <p>By default, when <code>make</code> looks for the makefile, it tries the following names, in order: <samp>GNUmakefile</samp>, <samp>makefile</samp> and <samp>Makefile</samp>. </p> <p>Normally you should call your makefile either <samp>makefile</samp> or <samp>Makefile</samp>. (We recommend <samp>Makefile</samp> because it appears prominently near the beginning of a directory listing, right near other important files such as <samp>README</samp>.) The first name checked, <samp>GNUmakefile</samp>, is not recommended for most makefiles. You should use this name if you have a makefile that is specific to GNU <code>make</code>, and will not be understood by other versions of <code>make</code>. Other <code>make</code> programs look for <samp>makefile</samp> and <samp>Makefile</samp>, but not <samp>GNUmakefile</samp>. </p> <p>If <code>make</code> finds none of these names, it does not use any makefile. Then you must specify a goal with a command argument, and <code>make</code> will attempt to figure out how to remake it using only its built-in implicit rules. See <a href="implicit-rules">Using Implicit Rules</a>. </p> <p>If you want to use a nonstandard name for your makefile, you can specify the makefile name with the ‘<samp>-f</samp>’ or ‘<samp>--file</samp>’ option. The arguments ‘<samp><span class="nolinebreak">-f</span> <var>name</var></samp>’ or ‘<samp><span class="nolinebreak">--file=</span><var>name</var></samp>’ tell <code>make</code> to read the file <var>name</var> as the makefile. If you use more than one ‘<samp>-f</samp>’ or ‘<samp>--file</samp>’ option, you can specify several makefiles. All the makefiles are effectively concatenated in the order specified. The default makefile names <samp>GNUmakefile</samp>, <samp>makefile</samp> and <samp>Makefile</samp> are not checked automatically if you specify ‘<samp>-f</samp>’ or ‘<samp>--file</samp>’. </p><div class="_attribution">
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Copyright © 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc. <br>Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.<br>
<a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Makefile-Names.html" class="_attribution-link">https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Makefile-Names.html</a>
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