4. Introducing `Makefile's

A `Makefile' is a specification of dependencies between files and how to resolve those dependencies such that an overall goal, known as a target, can be reached. `Makefile's are processed by the make utility. Other references describe the syntax of `Makefile's and the various implementations of make in detail. This chapter provides an overview into `Makefile's and gives just enough information to write custom rules in a `Makefile.am' (see section 7. Introducing GNU Automake) or `Makefile.in'.