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Using if-else Conditionals in a Makefile
2025-06-06 09:36 UTC by baeldung

1. Introduction

In Linux, Makefiles are powerful tools for automating build processes, but their syntax can sometimes be tricky, especially when it comes to conditional statements. The syntax differs significantly from traditional programming languages, leading to confusion and errors. A common issue is attempting to use if-else statements directly within recipe lines, which doesn’t work as expected.

In this tutorial, we’ll explore the syntax and examples of using if-else blocks in Makefiles.

2. Conditional Directives in Makefiles

We use several kinds of conditional directives in a Makefile:

ifeq – tests if two strings are equal
ifneq – tests if two strings aren’t equal
ifdef – the code tests if the variable definition is available
ifndef – the condition tests if a variable definition isn’t available

We’ll explore examples of the above conditionals in the subsequent sections.

3. Basic Syntax

Let’s take a look at the basic syntax for an if-else statement in a Makefile:

ifeq (condition)
    # Commands if condition is true
else
    # Commands if condition is false
endif

The above snippet is a basic skeleton on the conditional statements in a Makefile. We’ll explore the above directives using various examples.

3.1. Testing if Two Strings Are Equal

The ifeq directive tests if two strings are equal:

MODE = debug
ifeq ($(MODE),debug)
    CFLAGS = -g -O0 -DDEBUG
else
    CFLAGS = -O2
endif

In this example, if MODE equals “debug”, then CFLAGS takes on debugging flags; otherwise, it takes on optimization flags.

3.2. Testing if Two Strings Aren’t Equal

The ifneq directive tests if two strings aren’t equal to each other:

OS = linux
ifneq ($(OS),windows)
    RM = rm -f
else
    RM = del
endif

Here, if OS isn’t “windows”, the RM command takes the Unix version; otherwise, it takes the Windows command.

3.3. Testing if a Variable Is Defined

The ifdef directive tests whether or not a variable is defined:

ifdef DEBUG
    CFLAGS += -g -DDEBUG
endif

In this example, if DEBUG is defined (regardless of its value), the directive adds debugging flags to CFLAGS.

3.4. Testing if a Variable Isn’t Defined

The ifndef directive tests if a variable isn’t defined:

ifndef CC
    CC = gcc
endif

In this case, if the CC variable isn’t defined, the Makefile assigns “gcc” as its default value. We commonly use this pattern in Makefiles to provide default values that users can override.

4. Makefile Examples

In the following sections, we’ll explore examples that combine various aspects of the above conditionals into a Makefile.

4.1. Checking the Operating System

Here’s an example that demonstrates the usage of conditional statements for handling different operating systems:

# Define the default target
all: hello
# Check the operating system
ifeq ($(OS),Windows_NT)
    DETECTED_OS := Windows
else
    DETECTED_OS := $(shell uname -s)
endif
# Target that uses the detected OS
hello:
    @echo "Hello from $(DETECTED_OS)"
    @echo "This is a Make example"
# Conditional target behavior
ifeq ($(DETECTED_OS),Windows)
    install:
        @echo "Installing on Windows..."
else ifeq ($(DETECTED_OS),Darwin)
    install:
        @echo "Installing on macOS..."
else
    install:
        @echo "Installing on Linux or other OS..."
endif

In the above example, we initialize the the variable DETECTED_OS based on environment variable OS. The details of the above steps are:

ifeq ($(OS),Windows_NT) checks if the environment variable OS equals “Windows_NT” (which is automatically set on Windows systems).
If true, it sets DETECTED_OS to “Windows”.
Otherwise, it runs the Unix command uname -s (which returns the kernel name) and assigns that output to DETECTED_OS.
On macOS, uname -s returns “Darwin”; while on Linux, it returns “Linux”.

Subsequently, we use the variable DETECTED_OS for installing the appropriate software based on the operating system.

4.2. Conditional Expressions

If we need conditional logic within a recipe, we use shell conditionals:

check_file:
    @if [ -f "somefile.txt" ]; then \
        echo "File exists"; \
    else \
        echo "File does not exist"; \
    fi

Let’s break down the above code:

check_file defines a target named “check_file”.
@ at the beginning suppresses Make from printing the command before executing it (for cleaner output).
if [ -f “somefile.txt” ]; then \ starts a shell conditional statement.
echo “File exists”; prints “File exists” if the file exists.
echo “File does not exist” prints “File does not exist” if the file doesn’t exist.

The entire command is actually a single shell command (a Bash if-statement). In a proper Makefile, this would typically be formatted with proper indentation for readability. In above example, we’re executing the command prefixed with @ in a Bash subshell.

4.3. Inline Conditionals

We can also use if conditionals for inline functions:

# Using $(if) function
MESSAGE := $(if $(DEBUG),Debugging mode, Release mode)
# Using computed variable names
MODE := debug
COMPILER_$(MODE) := gcc -g
COMPILER_release := gcc -O2
compile:
    @echo "Using compiler: $(COMPILER_$(MODE))"

The above example illustrates inline functions using $(if …) syntax:

If the DEBUG variable is defined, the Makefile sets the MESSAGE variable to “Debugging mode”
Set the MESSAGE variable to “Release mode” if variable DEBUG isn’t set

We also use a computed variable based on the value of the MODE variable. This allows us to initialize the appropriate compiler parameters and use it for compiling the program.

4.4. Using the shell Command

We can combine the shell command in Makefile to check the required disk space:

# define the minimum disk space required
MIN_SPACE_MB=1000
valid-env:
    @echo "validating build env ..."
ifeq ($(shell if [ $$(df -m . | tail -1 | awk '{print $$4}') -lt $(MIN_SPACE_MB) ];then echo 1; else echo 0; fi),1)
    $(error Insufficient disk space. At least $(MIN_SPACE_MB)MB required)
endif

The above example illustrates a complex example of checking the environment for available disk space. The steps are:

Sset the MIN_SPACE_MB variable to “1000” assuming the required disk space is 1000 MB
The command df -m . | tail -1 | awk ‘{print $$4} evaluates the disk space on the current file system
Compare the output of the above command with the expected disk size (MIN_SPACE_MB) and echo the result of 0 or 1
We compare the result with 1 to determine if disk space is available
In case of error, the $(error …) block prints the error

One important idea of note is that in Makefiles, we can’t directly split a shell command across multiple lines. A separate shell instance typically executes every recipe. As a result, the variables defined in one line aren’t available in the next. This leads to variable scope limitations.

5. Conclusion

In this article, we learned various ways of using if-else blocks in a Makefile. Understanding conditional statements in Makefiles is essential for creating versatile and maintainable build systems. By properly implementing if-else logic in our Makefiles, we can ensure our build processes are robust and flexible across different platforms and configurations.

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