[H-GEN] gnu make command-line target ordering problems?

[Martin Pool]

[ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and
Unix-related topics. ]

Byron Ellacott wrote:
> On Mon, 18 Oct 1999, Martin Pool wrote:
> 
> > What do you expect make to do?  It's whole _purpose_ is to make
> > assumptions about what commands it should execute and when.  It only
> > makes assumptions you specify in the makefile and implicit rules.
> 
> Yes, it should make assumptions about what commands to execute; no it
> should never ever make assumptions about what those commands do.  Assuming
> "rm foo.o" removes foo.o is what strikes me as wrong.  Hence, it deciding
> that an "rm" command doesn't need to be executed because the file will be
> rebuilt later is inherently wrong.

No, I didn't mean to imply that make would assume a "rm foo.o" removes
foo.o.  The case of building .d files and then deleting them because the
makefile didn't specify otherwise is a better example.

> > > As a side note, I agree with Ben on the counter intuitive nature of having
> > > those multiple targets executed in parallel.
> > What do you think the "parallel" option should do?
> 
> when I issue the command "make a b c d" it seems more intuitive to think
> of that as making a, in parallel if so specificed, then making b, ..
> 
> Of course, this is because ``intuitive'' really implies ``how I was
> already thinking about it''.

"The only intuitive interface is the nipple; after that it's all
learned."

-- 
 /\\\  Mincom | Martin Pool          | martinp at mincom.com
// \\\        | Software Engineer    | Phone: +61 7 3303-3333
\\ ///        | Mincom Ltd.          | 
 \///         | Teneriffe, Brisbane  | Speaking for myself only

--
This is list (humbug) general handled by majordomo at lists.humbug.org.au .
Postings only from subscribed addresses of lists general or general-post.