Pybites Rust Cohort: A minimal Makefile

README-makefile.md

Makefile for Rust Projects

A simple Makefile to wrap common Cargo commands with easy-to-remember shortcuts.

Why Use a Makefile?

• Shorter commands: make test vs cargo test
• Consistent flags: make clippy always runs with -D warnings
• Discoverability: make help shows all available commands
• Combines steps: make all runs fmt, clippy, test, build in one command

The Makefile

.PHONY: help build test run fmt clippy check clean pre-commit-install all

help:
	@echo "Available commands:"
	@echo "  make build              - Build the project"
	@echo "  make test               - Run tests"
	@echo "  make run                - Run the binary"
	@echo "  make fmt                - Format code"
	@echo "  make fmt-check          - Check formatting"
	@echo "  make clippy             - Run linter"
	@echo "  make check              - Quick compile check"
	@echo "  make clean              - Remove build artifacts"
	@echo "  make pre-commit-install - Install pre-commit hooks"
	@echo "  make all                - Run fmt, clippy, test, build"

build:
	cargo build

test:
	cargo test

run:
	cargo run

fmt:
	cargo fmt

fmt-check:
	cargo fmt --check

clippy:
	cargo clippy -- -D warnings

check:
	cargo check

clean:
	cargo clean

pre-commit-install:
	pre-commit install

all: fmt clippy test build

Usage

# See all available commands
make help

# Common workflow
make fmt        # Format code
make clippy     # Check for issues
make test       # Run tests
make build      # Build project

# Or do it all at once
make all        # Runs: fmt → clippy → test → build

# Other useful commands
make run        # Run the binary
make check      # Quick compile check (faster than build)
make clean      # Remove target/ directory

Setup

1. Create a file named Makefile in your project root (no extension)
2. Copy the content above
3. Run make help to verify it works

Notes

• .PHONY tells Make these are commands, not files
• @ prefix hides the command itself, only shows output
• make all runs targets in order: fmt, clippy, test, build
• Clippy runs with -D warnings to treat warnings as errors

Makefile

.PHONY: help build test run fmt clippy check clean pre-commit-install all

help:
	@echo "Available commands:"
	@echo "  make build              - Build the project"
	@echo "  make test               - Run tests"
	@echo "  make run                - Run the binary"
	@echo "  make fmt                - Format code"
	@echo "  make fmt-check          - Check formatting"
	@echo "  make clippy             - Run linter"
	@echo "  make check              - Quick compile check"
	@echo "  make clean              - Remove build artifacts"
	@echo "  make pre-commit-install - Install pre-commit hooks"
	@echo "  make all                - Run fmt, clippy, test, build"

build:
	cargo build

test:
	cargo test

run:
	cargo run

fmt:
	cargo fmt

fmt-check:
	cargo fmt --check

clippy:
	cargo clippy -- -D warnings

check:
	cargo check

clean:
	cargo clean

pre-commit-install:
	pre-commit install

all: fmt clippy test build