Re: Compilation in C and ADA

[Emanuel Berg <embe8573@student.uu.se>]

Francis Belliveau wrote:

> If a menu selection says "compile" then
> "compile" is what it should be trying to do,
> not "make".

If there is a Makefile, I'd say compile and
make are synonymous because why else is there
a Makefile?

But isn't it a DWIM command, i.e., if there is
a Makefile, that is used, if there isn't,
a prompt for the compilation tool/command
appears, or if there is a default command
specified already it is executed? I don't know
because there have been ages since I compiled
anything without a Makefile!

> Put aside the ability to customize things.
> That is necessary due to the diversity of
> development environments, etc.

And the diversity of programmers...

But the make approach isn't the "least bad"
wich is tolerable because of its diversity.
It is the best I've seen to this date. I use it
with programming, but also with LaTeX, and
other types of processing which should happen
upon the update of files.

Why and how would anyone benefit from moving it
into Emacs? There is already a mode to edit the
Makefile itself.

One should not think of the Makefile as
something disassociated from the project. It is
as much part of the project as the source.
First thing when I start a new project is
create a Makefile and an Emacs shortcut to get
me there in a heartbeat.

> If I see a command like "compile" in a menu,
> I expect it to call the compiler for me, not
> attempt to "make" my project.

Write your own function!

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