depends: disable variables, rules and suffixes.

fanquake commented at 3:24 pm on July 23, 2025: member

This picks up #22126. Previously, this was more complicated to do, as depends packages (upnp, natpmp) used the rules being disabled. Those packages have since been removed.

When there is no rule to build a target in the makefile, make looks for a builtin rule. When -r is specified make no longer performs this lookup.

E.g. the following in an excerpt from make -d output. Here, make looks for a rule to build all.

 0Considering target file 'all'.
 1 File 'all' does not exist.
 2 Looking for an implicit rule for 'all'.
 3 Trying pattern rule with stem 'all'.
 4 Trying implicit prerequisite 'all.o'.
 5 Trying pattern rule with stem 'all'.
 6 Trying implicit prerequisite 'all.c'.
 7 Trying pattern rule with stem 'all'.
 8 Trying implicit prerequisite 'all.cc'.
 9 Trying pattern rule with stem 'all'.
10 Trying implicit prerequisite 'all.C'.
11 Trying pattern rule with stem 'all'.
12 Trying implicit prerequisite 'all.cpp'.
13 Trying pattern rule with stem 'all'.
14 Trying implicit prerequisite 'all.p'.
15 Trying pattern rule with stem 'all'.
16 Trying implicit prerequisite 'all.f'.
17...

Many more lines like this are omitted.

Because this build system does not use make builtin rules or suffixes, there is no benefit in having builtin rules enabled.

There are 2 benefits in having builtin rules disabled.

Improves performance by eliminating redundant lookups.
Simplifies troubleshooting by reducing the output of make -d or make -p.

Also see: https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/make.html#index-_002d_002dno_002dbuiltin_002drules.

DrahtBot added the label Build system on Jul 23, 2025

DrahtBot commented at 3:24 pm on July 23, 2025: contributor

The following sections might be updated with supplementary metadata relevant to reviewers and maintainers.

Code Coverage & Benchmarks

For details see: https://corecheck.dev/bitcoin/bitcoin/pulls/33045.

Reviews

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fanquake added the label DrahtBot Guix build requested on Jul 23, 2025

DrahtBot commented at 11:21 am on July 24, 2025: contributor

Guix builds (on x86_64) [untrusted test-only build, possibly unsafe, not for production use]

File	commit 73e754bd01b0653d1fda2d947fcaed0742da81c3(master)	commit 21f4a31c8a7f054e85e0e978bdd23c19ca487a69(pull/33045/merge)
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*-arm-linux-gnueabihf-debug.tar.gz	`35514683e2c806eb...`	`3f654c51e8fca816...`
*-arm-linux-gnueabihf.tar.gz	`03b34325a162d549...`	`4f5b75460a1b99bd...`
*-arm64-apple-darwin-codesigning.tar.gz	`f22f13c2eca5fdfb...`	`e6ce8199724a107b...`
*-arm64-apple-darwin-unsigned.tar.gz	`3391effee20ec6af...`	`34e88ab254c31f2d...`
*-arm64-apple-darwin-unsigned.zip	`a502fe719ba93cd6...`	`551be5fd8181cfbf...`
*-powerpc64-linux-gnu-debug.tar.gz	`5056cab7e5846f1a...`	`24eb381acb4a0e21...`
*-powerpc64-linux-gnu.tar.gz	`8f2a3dc992ad2528...`	`d58c2be9bbdc0a1e...`
*-riscv64-linux-gnu-debug.tar.gz	`dff0790128ad3e3b...`	`8fe4b7b1d494eebd...`
*-riscv64-linux-gnu.tar.gz	`36f075d3e82d8118...`	`ca4c95d02bc10b7c...`
*-x86_64-apple-darwin-codesigning.tar.gz	`f5c98678f07abadb...`	`29d3165d030c199c...`
*-x86_64-apple-darwin-unsigned.tar.gz	`92f3bdbf703a28ba...`	`01b2a075580bea08...`
*-x86_64-apple-darwin-unsigned.zip	`1ce72bf9ece268b9...`	`253a27b1fb825dd7...`
*-x86_64-linux-gnu-debug.tar.gz	`6378973406ab790c...`	`77c232b9b592bd82...`
*-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz	`852bd5993a5e0af6...`	`4654cfb476133c39...`
*.tar.gz	`c374850b77d3191b...`	`b677fe2965b77171...`
SHA256SUMS.part	`bb4156ff76c39233...`	`e89eb8569e44abd8...`
guix_build.log	`945c1eaecc45dbdd...`	`f6a192c8fa22676a...`
guix_build.log.diff		`61d0d7d432f7f2b2...`

DrahtBot removed the label DrahtBot Guix build requested on Jul 24, 2025

fanquake force-pushed on Jul 31, 2025

fanquake requested review from theuni on Aug 1, 2025

fanquake force-pushed on Aug 1, 2025

fanquake force-pushed on Aug 6, 2025

fanquake force-pushed on Aug 13, 2025

fanquake force-pushed on Sep 1, 2025

fanquake force-pushed on Sep 4, 2025

theuni commented at 3:05 pm on September 4, 2025: member

Concept ACK and utACK 803a2f5e9f869502536560f5bbe5979a137a20e5.

I was going to suggest:

Using --no-builtin-rules rather than -r to be a little more self-documenting
Using GNUMAKEFLAGS rather than MAKEFLAGS for better compatibility

But…

BSD Make supports -r, so that pretty much moots both points. Also, I’m pretty sure we require GNU Make anyway.

Only nit: Does anything depend on the builtin variables, or could we use -R as well?

fanquake force-pushed on Sep 5, 2025

fanquake commented at 1:32 pm on September 5, 2025: member

or could we use -R as well?

Pushed up a commit.

fanquake renamed this:
~~depends: disable builtin rules and suffixes.~~
depends: disable variables, rules and suffixes.
on Sep 5, 2025

fanquake added the label DrahtBot Guix build requested on Sep 5, 2025

DrahtBot commented at 2:22 pm on September 6, 2025: contributor

Guix builds (on x86_64) [untrusted test-only build, possibly unsafe, not for production use]

File	commit e04cb9c1bdf2199127cc8cf9c87f25e46b8cac7b(master)	commit 60623acf9db2a4a2f4b5d628a76b03fec22a755c(pull/33045/merge)
*-aarch64-linux-gnu-debug.tar.gz	`cd50bfed7e9bc0f8...`	`87104f63233496ca...`
*-aarch64-linux-gnu.tar.gz	`36a02623053223bc...`	`4dea2f22e2960ba8...`
*-arm-linux-gnueabihf-debug.tar.gz	`458c2f80c194deb2...`	`2547fc07072da046...`
*-arm-linux-gnueabihf.tar.gz	`b64957c7554150f0...`	`99bb29541b6a6292...`
*-arm64-apple-darwin-codesigning.tar.gz	`60882ae5d893d3a5...`	`51a056eb204b46f0...`
*-arm64-apple-darwin-unsigned.tar.gz	`cb0c6481e288a0ac...`	`2a157c9be42c3c22...`
*-arm64-apple-darwin-unsigned.zip	`1368db96c33512d3...`	`4c4fa278aa1f1b1e...`
*-powerpc64-linux-gnu-debug.tar.gz	`364b4bcb42c3fd42...`	`f5208f711bd2d3d7...`
*-powerpc64-linux-gnu.tar.gz	`c8f45ac13000d807...`	`7077086ce168746a...`
*-riscv64-linux-gnu-debug.tar.gz	`919495916d8c36d9...`	`d39dbafc71c5f423...`
*-riscv64-linux-gnu.tar.gz	`feb064a4d3f3e9f3...`	`83148f565a8d9ad1...`
*-x86_64-apple-darwin-codesigning.tar.gz	`08bb05b29e5b466a...`	`3c0fba3b0f6d22d5...`
*-x86_64-apple-darwin-unsigned.tar.gz	`968b1f2e17f0eb67...`	`07162534362b09fd...`
*-x86_64-apple-darwin-unsigned.zip	`351e8c1f1df53a31...`	`3acffe679480c073...`
*-x86_64-linux-gnu-debug.tar.gz	`d1bfb9b513bb03d6...`	`61d5dc3bbbbc511c...`
*-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz	`504457dd348fe70d...`	`ce70220960f8da3c...`
*.tar.gz	`6944fc8c6b7504b6...`	`73e9ba02c5d91050...`
SHA256SUMS.part	`077beb6922793d39...`	`8ead66dfe9edef6c...`
guix_build.log	`bea83b2d9bf46459...`	`29725b817fc58608...`
guix_build.log.diff		`1d72d106a748a136...`

DrahtBot removed the label DrahtBot Guix build requested on Sep 6, 2025

fanquake force-pushed on Sep 16, 2025

depends: disable builtin rules and suffixes.

When there is no rule to build a target in the makefile, make looks
for a builtin rule.
When -r is specified make no longer performs this lookup.

E.g. the following in an excerpt from make -d output.
Here, make looks for a rule to build 'all'.

Considering target file 'all'.
 File 'all' does not exist.
 Looking for an implicit rule for 'all'.
 Trying pattern rule with stem 'all'.
 Trying implicit prerequisite 'all.o'.
 Trying pattern rule with stem 'all'.
 Trying implicit prerequisite 'all.c'.
 Trying pattern rule with stem 'all'.
 Trying implicit prerequisite 'all.cc'.
 Trying pattern rule with stem 'all'.
 Trying implicit prerequisite 'all.C'.
 Trying pattern rule with stem 'all'.
 Trying implicit prerequisite 'all.cpp'.
 Trying pattern rule with stem 'all'.
 Trying implicit prerequisite 'all.p'.
 Trying pattern rule with stem 'all'.
 Trying implicit prerequisite 'all.f'.
...
Many more lines like this are omitted.

Because this build system does not use make builtin rules or suffixes,
there is no benefit in having builtin rules enabled.

There are 2 benefits in having builtin rules disabled.

1. Improves performance by eliminating redundant lookups.
2. Simplifies troubleshooting by reducing the output of make -d or
make -p.

a0b7858b43

depends: disable builtin variables 7e72e9b146

fanquake force-pushed on Oct 10, 2025

depends: disable variables, rules and suffixes. #33045

Code Coverage & Benchmarks

Reviews

Guix builds (on x86_64) [untrusted test-only build, possibly unsafe, not for production use]

Guix builds (on x86_64) [untrusted test-only build, possibly unsafe, not for production use]