The Make Advantage

File Targets

Track file modifications and only rebuild when sources change. Chain builds together for multi-stage pipelines that skip unnecessary work automatically.

Glob patterns — Match files with src/**/*.ts
Dependency chains — File targets can depend on other file targets
Automatic skip — "Up to date" when nothing changed

Jakefile

# File target with glob pattern
file dist/bundle.js: src/**/*.ts
    esbuild src/index.ts --bundle --outfile=dist/bundle.js

# Chain file targets together
file dist/app.min.js: dist/bundle.js
    terser dist/bundle.js -o dist/app.min.js

# Task depends on file target
task build: [dist/app.min.js]
    echo "Build complete!"

How It Works

Jake checks modification times and only runs commands when sources are newer than outputs.

1. First Run

Jake checks if dist/bundle.js exists. It doesn't, so Jake runs the build command.

2. Second Run

Jake expands src/**/*.ts and compares timestamps. All sources are older than the output, so Jake skips the build.

3. After Edit

You edit src/index.ts. Now one source is newer than the output, so Jake rebuilds.

Terminal

$ jake build
→ dist/bundle.js
  esbuild src/index.ts --bundle --outfile=dist/bundle.js
✓ dist/bundle.js (0.42s)
→ dist/app.min.js
  terser dist/bundle.js -o dist/app.min.js
✓ dist/app.min.js (0.18s)
→ build
  echo "Build complete!"
✓ build (0.01s)

$ jake build  # Run again
⊘ dist/bundle.js (up to date)
⊘ dist/app.min.js (up to date)
✓ build (0.01s)

Glob Patterns

Match files with powerful glob syntax—no need to list every file manually.

Pattern	Matches
*.ts	TypeScript files in current directory
*/.ts	TypeScript files anywhere (recursive)
src/*/.{ts,tsx}	TS/TSX files under src/
[abc].txt	a.txt, b.txt, or c.txt
??.js	Two-character JS files

Use Cases

File targets work with any build tool or language.

TypeScript Builds

file dist/index.js: src/**/*.ts tsconfig.json
    npx tsc

CSS Processing

file dist/styles.css: src/**/*.scss
    sass src/main.scss dist/styles.css

Binary Compilation

file app: *.c *.h
    gcc -o app *.c

Docker Images

file .docker-built: Dockerfile src/**/*
    docker build -t myapp . && touch .docker-built

vs Make

Same power, cleaner syntax.

Makefile Make

# Makefile
dist/app.js: $(wildcard src/*.ts)
	esbuild src/index.ts --bundle -o $@

Jakefile Jake

# Jakefile
file dist/app.js: src/**/*.ts
    esbuild src/index.ts --bundle --outfile=dist/app.js

Native globs

No $(wildcard ...) needed

No magic vars

No $@, $<, $^ to memorize

Flexible indent

Tabs or spaces work