What do the makefile symbols $@ and $< mean?

by

$@ is the name of the target being generated, and $< the first prerequisite (usually a source file). You can find a list of all these special variables in the GNU Make manual.

For example, consider the following declaration:

all: library.cpp main.cpp

In this case:

  • $@ evaluates to all
  • $< evaluates to library.cpp
  • $^ evaluates to library.cpp main.cpp

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