gnu make - How can I configure my makefile for debug and release builds?

Question

I have the following makefile for my project, and I'd like to configure it for release and debug builds. In my code, I have lots of #ifdef DEBUG macros in place, so it's simply a matter of setting this macro and adding the -g3 -gdwarf2 flags to the compilers. How can I do this?

$(CC) = g++ -g3 -gdwarf2
$(cc) = gcc -g3 -gdwarf2

all: executable

executable: CommandParser.tab.o CommandParser.yy.o Command.o
    g++ -g -o output CommandParser.yy.o CommandParser.tab.o Command.o -lfl

CommandParser.yy.o: CommandParser.l 
    flex -o CommandParser.yy.c CommandParser.l
    gcc -g -c CommandParser.yy.c

CommandParser.tab.o: CommandParser.y
    bison -d CommandParser.y
    g++ -g -c CommandParser.tab.c

Command.o: Command.cpp
    g++ -g -c Command.cpp

clean:
    rm -f CommandParser.tab.* CommandParser.yy.* output *.o

Just to clarify, when I say release/debug builds, I want to be able to just type make and get a release build or make debug and get a debug build, without manually commenting out things in the makefile.

Answer 1

You can use Target-specific Variable Values. Example:

CXXFLAGS = -g3 -gdwarf2
CCFLAGS = -g3 -gdwarf2

all: executable

debug: CXXFLAGS += -DDEBUG -g
debug: CCFLAGS += -DDEBUG -g
debug: executable

executable: CommandParser.tab.o CommandParser.yy.o Command.o
    $(CXX) -o output CommandParser.yy.o CommandParser.tab.o Command.o -lfl

CommandParser.yy.o: CommandParser.l 
    flex -o CommandParser.yy.c CommandParser.l
    $(CC) -c CommandParser.yy.c

Remember to use $(CXX) or $(CC) in all your compile commands.

Then, 'make debug' will have extra flags like -DDEBUG and -g where as 'make' will not.

On a side note, you can make your Makefile a lot more concise like other posts had suggested.