Learn Makefiles

1. Task

   1 146 16,101 9.5 Go

   A fast, cross-platform build tool inspired by Make, designed for modern workflows.

   

   I'm the creator and one of the maintainers of an alternative to Make: Task.

   It has existed for 8+ years and still evolving. Give it a try if you're looking for something fresh, and don't exitate to ask any questions.

   * https://taskfile.dev/

2. Kargo

   akuity.io sponsored

   Stop Scripting Promotions. Start Shipping with Kargo. Kargo automates promotion across dev, staging, and prod with approval gates and verification. Open source, built by the team behind Argo CD. Download now.

   

3. just

   2 230 35,654 9.7 Rust

   🤖 Just a command runner

   

   This is excellent modern replacement for part where Makefiles get messy: https://github.com/casey/just

4. Cake

   3 17 4,187 9.1 C#

   :cake: Cake (C# Make) is a cross platform build automation system.

   

5. Rake

   4 19 2,459 8.6 Ruby

   A make-like build utility for Ruby.

   

6. meson

   5 118 6,620 9.9 Python

   The Meson Build System

   

   Than checked Autotools and shared the head. At the very same time Meson[1] appeared and the thing with Builds is solved :)

   [1] https://mesonbuild.com

7. tup

   6 30 1,263 7.0 C

   Tup is a file-based build system.

   

   Does anyone have experience with tup?

   https://gittup.org/tup/

   It is a build system that automatically determines dependencies based on file system access, so it can work with any kind of compiler/tool.

8. scons

   7 11 2,417 9.5 Python

   SCons - a software construction tool

   

9. AppSignal

   www.appsignal.com sponsored

   AppSignal knows why the f*#k it crashed. Stop vibe-debugging. Every exception, every backtrace, grouped so you see patterns, not noise.

   

10. makefile-demo

    8 3 2 1.8 Makefile

    

    If you need compatibility with the ancient version of `make` shipped by default on OS X, not that it is missing a lot of functions and features, some subtly.

    Most other problems are either obvious typos or due to violating best-practice style, so I won't go into them.

    Note also that `load` is actually more portable than `guile`, but make sure you use the correct compiler in case you're cross-compiling the main project.

    ***

    Really you should just read Paul's Rules of Makefiles [1], then the GNU make manual [2]. Some of the other manuals related to GNU build tools are also relevant even if you aren't using the particular tool. I also have a demo project [3] if you just want something that works and isn't complicated.

    [1]: https://make.mad-scientist.net/papers/rules-of-makefiles/

    [2]: https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/

    [3]: https://github.com/o11c/makefile-demo

11. ninja

    9 62 13,194 8.5 C++

    a small build system with a focus on speed

    

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this limitation wrt Makefiles is entirely a choice by CMake, or at least a lack of volunteers. Ninja itself doesn't have any support for C++ modules (see https://github.com/ninja-build/ninja/issues/2457). In fact, Ninja has fewer features in that regard than plain make as Ninja requires all dependencies to be statically defined.

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