How to use Makefiles to boost command-line productivity

*Makefiles* are an awesome tool which can help you become more productive command-line wise by encapsulating long commands and/or sequences of commands. They also help abstract away complexity.

One practical example of creating a make command would be setting up a Laravel project. All you need to do is create a file called `Makefile` and type in the following.

```bash
.PHONY setup
setup: # Setup project
    composer install
    php artisan migrate:fresh --seed
    npm install
    ...
```

Now, a new developer who needs to setup his/her project can skip writing down that series of commands by simply typing in the following:

```bash
make setup
```

But this doesn't end here. You can create virtually any command to help you automate certain processes such as creating or deleting files, changing permissions etc.

Denisa Halmaghi
08 Dec 2021