How to use makefiles in Visual Studio?

I heard a lot about makefiles and how they simplify the compilation process. I'm using VS2008. Can somebody please suggest some online references or books where I can find out more about how to deal with them?

Solution 1:

The Microsoft Program Maintenance Utility (NMAKE.EXE) is a tool that builds projects based on commands contained in a description file.

NMAKE Reference

Solution 2:

A UNIX guy probably told you that. :)

You can use makefiles in VS, but when you do it bypasses all the built-in functionality in MSVC's IDE. Makefiles are basically the reinterpret_cast of the builder. IMO the simplest thing is just to use Solutions.

Solution 3:

To answer the specific questions...

I'm using VS2008. Can somebody please suggest some online references or books where I can find out more about how to deal with them?

This link will give you a good introduction into Makefiles by mapping it with Visual Studio.

Introduction to Makefiles for Visual Studio developers

I heard a lot about makefiles and how they simplify the compilation process.

Makefiles are powerful and flexible but may not be the best solution to simplify the process. Consider CMake which abstracts the build process well which is explained in this link.

CMake for Visual Studio Developers