Makefile

What is the Makefile ?

A Makefile is a specialized file used by the make build automation tool to manage the compilation and build process of software projects. It defines a set of rules and dependencies, allowing developers to automate the building of executable programs from source code, particularly in projects with multiple files.

Structure

target: dependencies
	command

• Targets: they represent the output artifacts.
• Dependencies: these are artifacts that must be already done for the target to be executed.
• Commands: these are the actions executed to create or update the target.

Info

It is not necessary for the target to be a file, it could be just a name for the command set. We call these phony targets.

Example

Makefile

all: generate_data preprocess_data train_model clean_data
 
generate_data:
	@echo "Getting data ..."
	python gen_data.py
 
preprocess_data:
	@echo "Preprocessing data ..."
	python prep_data.py
 
train_model:
	@echo "Training the model ..."
	python train.py
 
clean_data:
	@echo "Cleaning data folder ..."
	rm -rf data/

Execute the Makefile

# run all targets
make
make all
 
# run specific target
make clean_data