Trouble with makefile

Question

I am trying to write a make file that:

1) Turns the files myftpserver.c and myftpclient.c into myftpserver.o and myftpclient.o by just typing the command 'make'.

2)I'm also adding a 'clean' target for cleaning up the directory (removing all temporary files, object files and executable files)

3)using gcc compiler.

My current version is not working:

CC=gcc

myftpserver: myftpserver.o
    $(CC) -o myftpserver.o

myftpclient: myftpclient.o
    $(CC) -o myftpclient.o

clean: ? // not sure what to put here

This is my first time making a makefile. I've tried several other combinations but none seems to work. What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

Make has rules built-in for basic C files, so you don't need to tell it how to build myftpserver.o or myftpclient.o. This Makefile should work correctly, and properly includes .PHONY so the clean rule won't get disabled in the presence of a file named "clean"

CC:=gcc

.PHONY: clean all

all: myftpserver myftpclient

myftpserver: myftpserver.o
myftpclient: myftpclient.o

clean:
        rm -f *~ *.o myftpserver myftpclient

To test:

$ make --dry-run
gcc    -c -o myftpserver.o myftpserver.c
gcc   myftpserver.o   -o myftpserver
gcc    -c -o myftpclient.o myftpclient.c
gcc   myftpclient.o   -o myftpclient

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

You want instructions for compiling your .o file, and the rm shell command to clean:

CC=gcc

myftpserver: myftpserver.o
    $(CC) -o myftpserver myftpserver.o

myftpclient: myftpclient.o
    $(CC) -o myftpclient myftpclient.o

myftpserver.o: myftpserver.c
    $(CC) myftpserver.c

myftpclient.o: myftpclient.c
    $(CC) myftpclient.c

clean: 
    rm -f *~ *# *.o myftpserver myftpclient