Re: Cleaning up Make syntax

[Paul D. Smith]

Hi Brian;

It's not clear from your email exactly what you are suggesting, other
than the fact you don't like make syntax... this is understandable,
but...

The most fundamental feature of GNU make, which will always and forever
be true, is that it conforms to the POSIX standard for make.  GNU make
has many added, powerful features, it's true, but if you have a makefile
that is written to the POSIX make standard, GNU make should be able to
read that makefile and handle it properly.

Thus, all conversation about drastic reworking of the syntax of
makefiles in massively incompatible ways is misplaced.  It won't ever
happen.  There won't ever be (as far as I'm concerned) a "GNU make
next-generation" that has a completely new, incompatible syntax.

If that's what you're looking for you don't have to wait, or write it
yourself: there are plenty of other build tools already available out
there, some with syntax similar to what you're thinking of.  If all
you've considered is Ant and make you've not even begun to dip your feet
into the sea (well... lake...) of build tools available.  Many of them
are free software, too.  Just to name the most popular ones there're
cook and scons.


Of course, enhancements which do not conflict with POSIX, or which might
in small ways but require special flags or targets or whatever to
enable, are certainly reasonable.  In fact I have a patch I wrote a
while back which allows a makefile to redefine the character that
introduces a command script from a TAB to any other character (although
it still must be a single character, so you can't say "any
whitespace")... for example a character like ">" gives the makefile a
readable quality.

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Paul D. Smith <address@hidden>          Find some GNU make tips at:
 http://www.gnu.org                      http://make.paulandlesley.org
 "Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist