Build system

• Share as much as possible: include directives (a4/makefile)
  • make it possible to make changes without affecting the users' makefiles
  • allow the users to override some of the common settings
  • fine granularity of the makefile components: support for small divergences
• Overview of the demo example
• Do not depend on one "top"
• Record the makefile hierarchy: build and lib targets, with tag files
• Record the dependencies, using the others' makefiles: build_lib target
• Result: config record, check, promote, label, winkin
  • One way to build each item
  • No loss of flexibility or control
  • Comparable results from different people

Notes

There is a relatively famous paper by Peter Miller, currently available as part of the Aegis system with a title as a manifesto: Recursive Make Considered Harmful.
Note that this paper mainly describes problems of recursive make systems with a global top, and that our optimizations fully answer its complaints.