A naukri.com initiative
Dev
6d
242
Image Credit: Dev
Make Makefiles Great Again: Why It’s Time to Bring Back the OG Workflow Boss
- Makefiles, which were conceived in 1976 by Stuart Feldman during his time at Bell Labs, were born out of necessity to simplify the build processes for software projects.
- Makefiles became the backbone of software engineering, powering numerous projects in modern computing.
- Makefiles have been overshadowed by flashy, stack-specific CLI tools like npm, pip, and cargo.
- Makefiles are stack-agnostic, universally understood, and still perfectly capable of orchestrating complex workflows.
- Makefiles will handle every language like JavaScript, Python, Rust, Docker without complaining.
- Makefiles are perfect for projects where rebuilding everything would otherwise take ages. They won’t bother running the same task again if something hasn’t changed.
- Makefiles reduce complex workflow into a single command for every developer including junior team members.
- Writing a Makefile is like writing a recipe: just list your ingredients (dependencies) and steps (commands).
- Makefiles can simplify even the most daunting Kubernetes workflows and tidy up data pipelines.
- Adopting Makefiles means improving your own productivity and creating workflows that are easier for your teammates to understand, your future self to maintain, and your CI/CD pipeline to execute.
Read Full Article
14 Likes
For uninterrupted reading, download the app