[Coco] Re: make and friends was Re: CCASM for Linux

[KnudsenMJ at aol.com]

In a message dated 12/14/04 7:16:19 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
Rodney_Hamilton at GBRonline.com writes:

Actually, Mike, if you wrote any makefiles, you *did* use m4.
The  AT&T UNIX make used m4 as its macro processor, so for anyone who
ever  wondered why the make syntax looked so strange, now you  know.



Might be.  ISTR the C compile had the pre-proc built in, not a  separate 
module as in OS-9.
Make's syntax is, er, unique, but pretty simple once you figure it  out.  
Unlike most UNIX items, it's way too dependent on white space and  tabs rather 
than free-form punctuation like C itself.
 
But at least it's universal -- the OS-9 Makes use the same syntax, and even  
MS Visual C++ IDE can import Makefiles.  And create [something like] them  on 
request.
--Mike K.