rmyorston / pdpmake

Public domain POSIX make

Public domain POSIX make

This is an implementation of POSIX make. (The link may refer to the older 2017 standard: it's the 2024 revision that's supported.)

It should build on most modernish Unix-style systems:

• It comes with its own makefile, naturally, but if you don't have a make binary already the command cc -o make *.c should get you started.

• Command line options may not work properly due to differences in how getopt(3) is reset. Adjust GETOPT_RESET() in make.h for your platform, if necessary.

Microsoft Windows users will find pdpmake included in the BusyBox for Windows binaries. Download an appropriate binary for your system and rename it make.exe or pdpmake.exe. BusyBox for Windows includes a Unix shell and many utilities. These can be used in Makefiles without any further setup.

The default configuration enables some non-POSIX extensions. Generally these are compatible with GNU make:

• double-colon rules
• ifdef/ifndef/ifeq/ifneq/else/endif conditionals
• lib.a(mem1.o mem2.o...) syntax for archive members
• := macro assignments (equivalent to POSIX ::=)
• chained inference rules
• */?/[] wildcards for filenames in target rules
• the $< and $* internal macros are valid for target rules
• skip duplicate entries in $?
• -C directory command line option
• # doesn't start a comment in macro expansions or build commands
• # may be escaped with a backslash
• macro definitions and targets can be mixed on the command line

When extensions are enabled adding the .POSIX target to your makefile will disable them. Other versions of make tend to allow extensions even in POSIX mode.

Setting the environment variable PDPMAKE_POSIXLY_CORRECT (its value doesn't matter) or giving the --posix option as the first on the command line also turn off extensions.

Additional information and release notes are available.