Makefile.md

Side-by-Side Example: bs vs Makefile

This example illustrates how a simple project with compilation and test steps can be structured using bs scripts and a traditional Makefile.

Feature / Step	bs Implementation	Makefile Implementation
Build source files	bs/build.sh	Makefile target build:
Run tests	bs/test.sh	Makefile target test:
Clean build artifacts	bs/clean.sh	Makefile target clean:
Dependency handling	.build.deps executable lists dependent tasks	Implicit dependencies via target prerequisites
Inkremental build	Timestamp or checksum checks inside scripts	Automatic based on file modification times
Parallel execution	bs can run tasks in background with & and wait	make -j

Example Makefile

.PHONY: all build test clean

all: build test

build: src/main.c
	gcc -o build/app src/main.c

test: build
	./build/app --run-tests

clean:
	rm -f build/app

Example bs scripts

bs/
├── .all.deps
├── all.sh
├── build.sh
└── test.sh
├── clean.sh

# bs/.all.deps
bs/test.sh

# bs/all.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
bash bs/.build.deps
bs/build.sh

# bs/build.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
src='src/main.c'
out='build/app'
if [[ -f "$out" && "$out" -nt "$src" ]]; then
    exit 0
fi
gcc -o build/app src/main.c

# bs/test.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
./build/app --run-tests

# bs/clean.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
rm -f build/app

Example bs scripts (simplified)

For small projects, the bs scripts can be written more like npm scripts as performance tradeoffs are less important.

# bs/all.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
bs/test.sh

bs/build.sh

# bs/build.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
gcc -o build/app src/main.c

# bs/test.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
./build/app --run-tests

# bs/clean.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
rm -f build/app