It would be very nice if GCC could save the dependency information for an object file in the file itself (ideally including the checksums of the source files used to build it) and optionally check this information when compiling, so that it would skip files which are up-to-date. I think that this would have the potential to seriously reduce makefile-hell and build times. A usage example:
cd $(OBJECT_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY) gcc -c $(GCC_OPTIONS) source_file1.c source_file2.c source_file3.c ... Where only those object files out of source_file1.o, source_file2.o, source_file3.o ... which were out of date would be rebuilt. Compare this to the number of lines currently needed to manage dependencies correctly. -- Summary: Add dependency information to object files and make use of it Product: gcc Version: 4.1.2 Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: enhancement Priority: P3 Component: other AssignedTo: unassigned at gcc dot gnu dot org ReportedBy: raselmsh at hotmail dot com http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=33087