pymake314 1.0.0

A pure-Python Makefile interpreter — use make without installing make

pymake314

A pure-Python Makefile interpreter. Use make without installing make.

pip install pymake314

No dependencies. Works on any OS where Python 3.8+ is available — including environments where you cannot install system packages.

---

CLI usage

pymake                        # run the default target from ./Makefile
pymake build                  # run a specific target
pymake build test             # run multiple targets in order
pymake -n build               # dry run — print commands, don't execute
pymake -s test                # silent — don't echo commands
pymake -k test                # keep going after errors
pymake -i test                # ignore all errors
pymake -f path/to/Makefile    # use a specific Makefile
pymake -C path/to/dir         # change to directory before doing anything
pymake CC=clang build         # override a variable
pymake -p                     # print parsed variable/rule database and exit

Python API

from pymake import run

rc = run()                                        # default target, ./Makefile
rc = run("build", "test")                         # multiple targets
rc = run("all", makefile="path/to/Makefile")      # custom Makefile path
rc = run("build", variables={"CC": "clang"})      # variable overrides
rc = run("all", dry_run=True)                     # dry run
rc = run("all", silent=True)                      # silent mode
rc = run("all", ignore_errors=True)               # ignore errors
rc = run("all", keep_going=True)                  # keep going after errors

run() returns 0 on success and a non-zero exit code on failure.
It raises FileNotFoundError if the Makefile is missing, and RuntimeError on dependency cycles or missing targets.

---

Supported Makefile features

Feature	Supported
= recursive variables	✅
:= / ::= immediate variables	✅
?= conditional assignment	✅
+= append	✅
!= shell assignment	✅
$(VAR) / ${VAR} expansion	✅
$(VAR:.c=.o) suffix substitution references	✅
$(VAR:%.c=%.o) pattern substitution references	✅
.PHONY targets	✅
Pattern rules (%.o: %.c)	✅
Automatic variables $@ $< $^ $*	✅
@ silent prefix	✅
- ignore-errors prefix	✅
include / -include	✅
Backslash line continuation	✅
Inline # comments	✅
File timestamp (mtime) up-to-date checks	✅
-C directory flag	✅
-n dry run	✅
-s silent mode	✅
-k keep going	✅
-i ignore errors	✅
ifeq / ifdef conditionals	🔜 planned
$(foreach ...) / $(call ...)	🔜 planned
Parallel jobs (-j)	🔜 planned

---

Why pymake?

Some environments — CI containers, restricted servers, embedded systems, Windows machines — don't have make available and you can't install it. pymake gives you the same workflow (make build, make test, make clean) with nothing but Python.

---

License

See LICENSE for details.