Makefiles for Python and beyond

Makefiles are quite unpopular in the dynamic languages world. Some Python and JavaScript developers consider GNU make an ancient, deprecated, outdated, and dying tool, used by some dinosaurs. The truth is: make is a wonderful and often misunderstood tool. It is fairly simple yet very powerful. Hell, source-based Linux distros and BSD operating systems heavily rely on make. There are many application for Makefiles outside of C/C++ world, and I think that make deserves more attention and love. Why does Python even need a Makefile? The short answer is: to avoid the “It worked on my machine” situation. Python does a very good job to abstract OS layer, although Python application still needs some kind of packaging before it can be distributed, or deployed to a server. In general, Makefile is a good alternative to a bunch of bash scripts used to automate tedious tasks. Full version at iurii.net — no ads, no tracking, no inbox spam.