MakePlus

MakePlus is a simple software package that adds great new capabilities to the ubiquitous GNU Make tool. The make command can be found on almost all modern computer systems. MakePlus has very minimal prerequisites and even has a auto-install incantation.

By adding one include line to the start of your Makefile, you get:

• Functional Prerequisite Testing (instead of just file timestamps)
  • Use testing functions from the MakePlus Standard Library
  • Use any testing program in your PATH that returns 0 or 1(-255)
  • Define inline testing functions in your Makefile
• Special Commands to do common things
• Special Targets for MakePlus related tasks
• MakePlus features integrate nicely with the standard make features
  • Use Makefile variables in your prerequisite testing functions
  • Automatic variables (like $<) can use output from testing functions

Example Makefile using MakePlus

Here's a Makefile that prints a Hello or Goodbye greeting.

include $(shell make+)

50-50 = return $((RANDOM % 2))

say-something: $(+50-50?say-hello|say-goodbye)

say-hello say-goodbye:
    @printf "%s, my friend!\n" `sed 's/.*/\u&/' <<< ${@:say-%=%}`

Install MakePlus, save the above text into a file called Makefile and run make say-something.

If you don't want to install MakePlus yet, change the first line to:

include $(shell wget -qnc https://makeplus.net/.make+;. ./.make+)

and the first time you run make it will auto-install MakePlus locally in your current directory.

How it Works

The first line triggers all the MakePlus magic! The rest of the Makefile is a normal GNU Makfile, except for things that begin with a +.

Note the 'say-something' rule. It has a prerequisite that calls a test function (50-50 defined inline) and invokes one of two different rules depending on the result.

Try It Now

MakePlus comes with a bunch of demo Makefiles that are easy to run. Try out the red-fish-blue-fish demo now!

Copy this command and paste it into a terminal:

(
  set -e
  cd $(mktemp -d)
  wget -q https://makeplus.net/red-fish-blue-fish/Makefile
  while true; do
    clear
    (set -x; make fish)
    printf 'Press enter'
    read
  done
)

Every time you press enter it will run make fish which should display 1 or 2 red or blue fish. The Makefile is here. See if you can figure it out. (It's not hard. :)

More MakePlus Info

• Source Code
• Installation
• Documentation
• Demos
• Issues
• Chat in #makeplus on irc.freenode.net