How does the make command work?

The makefile is read by the make command, which determines the target file or files that are to be made and then compares the dates and times of the source files to decide which rules need to be invoked to construct the target. Often, other intermediate targets have to be created before the final target can be made.

What is makefile used for?

The make utility requires a file, Makefile (or makefile ), which defines set of tasks to be executed. You may have used make to compile a program from source code. Most open source projects use make to compile a final executable binary, which can then be installed using make install .