c - Using the make command without makefiles?

Question

I was compiling some C code for an assignment and I ran "make codeFile", where "codeFile" was the name of my C program, and even though I didn't have a makefile, an executable was created, and it ran and worked correctly.

Does anyone know why this worked? Why does make compile something even if I don't have a makefile? The only reference I could find was this: http://daly.axiom-developer.org/TimothyDaly_files/class5/node5.html

Answer 1

Make has an internal database with implicit rules. You can use make -p to list them. Also make -d will tell you which rules are being applied, so that would help you discover which implicit rules are being used in this case.