Beginner questions

Hi everyone, I'm new to this list.



I don't have alot of experience with make, I've always just used what somebody 
else has setup.  Now I'm setting up a new project myself and was hoping to get 
some suggestions about organizing he makefiles.



1.  What is the preferred method for organizing a project's makefiles where the 
source (C++) files are stored in a directory hierarchy rather than all in a 
single directory?  How does the root makefile reference the makefiles in the 
other directories?  One method I've seen is to have the root makefile "cd blah 
&& make" into each subdirectory.  The makefiles in the subdirectories would 
then add their object code to a library which was linked in at the end by the 
root makefile.  I'd like to do something similar, except not bother with the 
library and have the *.o files linked into the executable as if they were all 
in the same directory.



2.  On the last project I worked on the makefiles were organized using *.o 
files as the prerequisites and no rules to create the *.o (such as in section 
2.2 of the make manual).  Can someone give a very brief overview of how this 
works?



Can anyone recommend any decent books or web tuturials on the subject?  I've 
looked at the GNU manual but I'm looking for more practical info rather than 
just the syntax.



I'd really like to be more confident with the make system, so any 
help/suggestions are appreciated.



Mark







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