Recursive Use of make

Recursive use of make means using make as a command in a makefile. This technique is useful when you want separate makefiles for various subsystems that compose a larger system. For example, suppose you have a subdirectory `subdir' which has its own makefile, and you would like the containing directory's makefile to run make on the subdirectory. You can do it by writing this:

subsystem:
        cd subdir; $(MAKE)

or, equivalently, this (see section Summary of Options):

subsystem:
        $(MAKE) -C subdir

You can write recursive make commands just by copying this example, but there are many things to know about how they work and why, and about how the sub-make relates to the top-level make.

• MAKE Variable: The special effects of using `$(MAKE)'.
• Variables/Recursion: How to communicate variables to a sub-make.
• Options/Recursion: How to communicate options to a sub-make.
• -w Option: How the `-w' or `--print-directory' option helps debug use of recursive make commands.

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