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GenericMakefile

A generic makefile for use with C projects. Allows for easy project setup without the need to create tedious build rules or dependency lists. Release builds produce size-optimized binaries.

Features

  • Automatically finds and compiles all source files within the source directory.
  • Compiles most recently modified files first, to hopefully find problems earlier.
  • Automatically generates dependencies as files are compiled, ensuring that files are correctly recompiled when dependencies have updated.
  • Includes configurations for normal (release) build and debug build suitable for GDB debugging or profiling. Debug builds include applicable GCC sanitizers.
  • Times the compilation of each file and the entire build.
  • Generates version numbers based on git tags (see below), which are passed the compiler as preprocessor macros (in debug mode).
  • By default, builds in a "quiet" mode that only lists the actions being performed. By passing V=true to make, you can compile in verbose mode to see the full compiler commands being issued.
  • 8 default targets:
    • 64-bit, dynamic-linked, release
    • 64-bit, dynamic-linked, debug
    • 64-bit, static-linked, release
    • 64-bit, static-linked, debug
    • 32-bit, dynamic-linked, release
    • 32-bit, dynamic-linked, debug
    • 32-bit, static-linked, release
    • 32-bit, static-linked, debug
  • Customizable compiler/linker flags for each of the build targets. Sensible defaults baked in optimizing for size.
  • Post-build step to strip symbols from release binaries.
  • Incorporates calls to cppcheck as a build prerequisite. Also available as check target.
  • Incorporates scan-build when available for additional static analysis.
  • Optional indent target for style/whitespace conformity. Defaults to K&R, but with spaces instead of tabs and allowing 120-character lines.

Versioning

Tags should be made in the format vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCH[-description], where MAJOR, MINOR, and PATCH are numeric. The v prefix is optional. The following macros will be generated and passed to the preprocessor:

  • VERSION_MAJOR (int) - The major version number from the most recent tag.
  • VERSION_MINOR (int) - The minor version number from the most recent tag.
  • VERSION_PATCH (int) - The patch version number from the most recent tag.
  • VERSION_REVISION (int) - The number of commits since the most recent tag.
  • VERSION_HASH (string) - The SHA of the current commit. Includes the "-dirty" suffix if there are uncommitted changes.

If the makefile is not used in a git repository, or is in a repository with no tags, the version macros are not created.

External Requirements

  • cppcheck
  • indent (optional)
  • scan-build (optional)

Limitations

  • Assumes GNU make.
  • Timing does not work correctly with MacOS. See issue #6 for a workaround patch that allows timing in seconds on Mac.
  • Doesn't really support multiple types of source files in the same project.
  • No easy way to exclude files from the build. You can either change the extension of files to be excluded, or use preprocessor flags for conditional compilation.
  • Don't use -lmcheck if your application is multi-threaded. mcheck is not thread-safe. See https://stackoverflow.com/a/314961 for more info.

Protips

  • Use scan-build make for additional static analysis

Thanks to

  • My friend Jay and people on Stack Overflow for help with regex to parse the version info.
  • The residents of /r/programming for suggesting numerous tweaks and improvements.
  • Josh, for his review and suggestions!