MAKE is a wonderfull tool.
Normally the 'default' rules (ie those built into the product) just do the right thing,
but you can teach it how to do every step. The non-default rule that
is really neat is the ability to ensure that your copy of the source is up-to-date
with respect to the source management system (sccs, rcs, or cvs).
the rules are hierarchial, so each step of the process can be controlled by you.
typically, the first rule is
all:
all: config, build, install
config:
build:
install: mkdirs, copyfiles, setperms
mkdirs:
copyfiles:
setperms:
the white-spaces between the rules are critical; they are the delimiters of the actions associated to the rule immediately above.
by this example, the following are all valid invocations of this makefile;
make all
make config
make build
make mkdirs
this ought to stimulate some reading and usage for the tool.