[bug #59243] Overcomplicated example of automatic dependency configuration

[anonymous]

URL:
  <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?59243>

                 Summary: Overcomplicated example of automatic dependency
configuration
                 Project: make
            Submitted by: None
            Submitted on: Fri 09 Oct 2020 03:49:50 PM UTC
                Severity: 3 - Normal
              Item Group: Documentation
                  Status: None
                 Privacy: Public
             Assigned to: None
             Open/Closed: Open
         Discussion Lock: Any
       Component Version: None
        Operating System: None
           Fixed Release: None
           Triage Status: None

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Details:

In section 4.14, the example of the pattern rule is unnecessarily
complicated:

%.d: %.c
        @set -e; rm -f $@; \
         $(CC) -M $(CPPFLAGS) $< > $@.$$$$; \
         sed 's,\($*\)\.o[ :]*,\1.o $@ : ,g' < $@.$$$$ > $@; \
         rm -f $@.$$$$

The first rm command is redundant as redirecting the output of the sed command
with ">" will replace it anyway. Instead of creating another temporary file
with "$@.$$$$", one can simply pipe the preprocessor output to sed input,
making the second rm unnecessary as well. If a file must be created for some
reason, why confuse beginners with "$@.$$$$" instead of just "$@.temp". The
sed is also overengineered as is.

This example provides the same functionality:

%.d: %.c
    @printf "$@ " > $@
    @$(CC) $(CPPFLAGS) -MM $< >> $@

However, instead of spending 30 minutes to understand it, the developer only
needs 5, as this example would be much clearer.




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