What is Makefiles?

Makefiles are a build automation tool that define a set of tasks to be executed. They are commonly used to compile source code into executable programs or libraries. A Makefile contains rules, where each rule specifies a target (e.g., an executable file) and the dependencies required to create that target. The 'make' utility reads the Makefile and executes the necessary commands to update the target if any of its dependencies have been modified. This avoids unnecessary recompilation and speeds up the build process.