True, but shell is a really nasty backing language. It isn't very well integrated with make, and ultimately it suffers from the same flaw as make--it was designed as a limited tool, in this case for linking programs together, and doesn't give you access to a more powerful language (unless, of course, you use a Perl one-liner or something).

(unless, of course, you use a Perl one-liner or something)

Q.E.D.? :-)

Did I mention I find make extraordinarily useful for many tasks besides building compiled software? Almost the only time I will rewrite Perl scripts is to translate them to Makefiles.

Makeshifts last the longest.

Almost the only time I will rewrite Perl scripts is to translate them to Makefiles.

Ok, you've piqued my interest. Would you mind providing a simple example, either in this thread (as an example of a mini-language in action) or in another thread?

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