Install Make

Make runs a long command for you when you type a short name. Think of it like the speed-dial buttons on a phone: you press one button instead of typing the whole number.

Later in this course, you run the same few commands again and again. Some of them are long and easy to get wrong. Make lets you run them with one short word instead.

How it works

A project keeps a file called a Makefile. In it, each short name has the real commands written under it. For example, a Makefile might say:

start:
	docker compose up --detach --wait

start is the short name. The line under it is the real command. To run it, you type this in the terminal:

make start

Make looks in the Makefile, finds start, and runs the command for you. You don't have to remember the long line.

You don't write a Makefile in this course. You only use the short names that a project already has.

Install it

Click the name of your computer's system to open its section.

macOS

Check if it's already installed. In Terminal, run:

make --version

• If the first line starts with GNU Make, you already have Make, and there is nothing to install: skip the rest of this section. Most Macs are in this group, because Apple's Command Line Tools include Make, and Homebrew installed those for you on the Git page.
• If you see command not found: make, do the step below.

Install it. In the terminal, run:

xcode-select --install

A window opens. Click Install and wait for it to finish. This can take a few minutes.

Check that it works. In the terminal, run:

make --version

The first line starts with GNU Make, followed by a number, like GNU Make 3.81. Your number may be different. Macs come with an older version of Make than Linux does, which is normal.

Windows

Make goes inside Ubuntu, like Git.

Check if it's already installed. In the Ubuntu terminal, run:

make --version

• If the first line starts with GNU Make, you already have Make, and there is nothing to install: skip the rest of this section.
• If you see command not found: make, do the step below.

Install it. In the Ubuntu terminal, run:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y make

Type your Ubuntu password if it asks.

Check that it works. In the Ubuntu terminal, run:

make --version

The first line starts with GNU Make, followed by a number, like GNU Make 4.3. Your number may be different.

Linux

Check if it's already installed. In the terminal, run:

make --version

• If the first line starts with GNU Make, you already have Make, and there is nothing to install: skip the rest of this section.
• If you see command not found: make, do the step below.

Install it. In the terminal, run this on Ubuntu or Debian:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y make

On Fedora, run this in the terminal instead:

sudo dnf install -y make

Type your password if it asks.

Check that it works. In the terminal, run:

make --version

The first line starts with GNU Make, followed by a number, like GNU Make 4.3. Your number may be different.

Next

Make is ready. Next, install Codex.