Make DSL - A Makefile Compiler

A rapid DSL compiler for a subset of the Make(1) build system language, inspired by Graydon's "One-Day Compilers" talk series.

Features

• Makefile syntax support: Variables, rules, dependencies, and actions
• Static compilation: Compiles Makefiles to native executables
• Variable expansion: Full variable reference and expansion
• Dependency analysis: Automatic dependency graph construction
• Incremental builds: Only rebuilds targets when dependencies change

Architecture

The compiler follows a 2-stage architecture:

1. Makefile → OCaml: Parse Makefile and generate OCaml code
2. OCaml → C: Compile OCaml to C via ocamlc
3. C → Native: Generate final executable via gcc

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• OCaml ≥ 4.08
• Dune build system
• GCC compiler

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd make_dsl

# Build the project
dune build

# Install the compiler
dune install

Usage

see build.sh or

# 步骤1：编译make DSL编译器
dune build
# 生成：./_build/default/src/main.exe

# 步骤2：准备一个Makefile
cat > Makefile << 'EOF'
CC = gcc
CFLAGS = -Wall -O2
TARGET = hello

$(TARGET): main.c
	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $(TARGET) main.c

clean:
	rm -f $(TARGET)
EOF

# 步骤3：用make编译器编译Makefile
./_build/default/src/main.exe Makefile my_build_tool
# 这一步做了：
# - 读取Makefile
# - 解析成AST
# - 生成OCaml代码（my_build_tool.ml）
# - 编译OCaml代码成可执行文件（my_build_tool）

# 步骤4：使用生成的构建工具
./my_build_tool
# 这会执行Makefile中定义的构建规则

Supported Syntax

Variables

CC = gcc
CFLAGS = -Wall -O2
OBJECTS = main.o utils.o

Build Rules

program: $(OBJECTS)
	$(CC) -o $@ $^

%.o: %.c
	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $@

Special Variables--todo

• $@ - Target name
• $^ - All dependencies
• $<< - First dependency

Examples

Simple Build

# examples/simple.mk
CC = gcc
OBJS = main.o utils.o

program: $(OBJS)
	$(CC) -o program $(OBJS)

main.o: main.c
	$(CC) -c main.c

utils.o: utils.c
	$(CC) -c utils.c

Complex Build with Variables

# examples/variables.mk
CXX = g++
CXXFLAGS = -std=c++17 -Wall

SOURCES = main.cpp utils.cpp
OBJECTS = $(SOURCES:.cpp=.o)

myapp: $(OBJECTS)
	$(CXX) -o $@ $^

%.o: %.cpp
	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c $< -o $@

Development

Project Structure

make_dsl/
├── src/
│   ├── lexer.mll          # Lexical analyzer
│   ├── parser.mly         # Parser grammar
│   ├── ast.ml            # Abstract syntax tree
│   ├── semantic.ml       # Semantic analysis
│   ├── codegen.ml        # Code generation
│   └── main.ml           # Main driver
├── examples/             # Example Makefiles
├── tests/               # Test suite
└── README.md

Building from Source

# Build the project
dune build

# Run tests
dune test

# Clean build artifacts
dune clean

Testing

# Test with simple example
cd examples
../_build/default/src/main.exe simple.mk
./simple

# Test with variables example
../_build/default/src/main.exe variables.mk
./variables

Implementation Details

Lexer (lexer.mll)

• Tokenizes Makefile syntax
• Handles variables, special characters, comments
• Provides source location information for errors

Parser (parser.mly)

• Grammar for variable assignments and build rules
• LL(1) recursive descent parser
• Builds abstract syntax tree

Semantic Analysis (semantic.ml)

• Variable binding and scope resolution
• Dependency graph construction
• Topological sorting for build order

Code Generation (codegen.ml)

• Transforms Makefile AST to OCaml functions
• Generates C code for build system
• Implements runtime support for file operations

Limitations

• Limited to basic Makefile syntax
• No advanced features like pattern rules, conditionals, or includes
• Simplified variable expansion
• No parallel builds

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please read SUPPORTED_SYNTAX_TODO.md for guidelines.