Java Makefile Template

A lightweight Java project template featuring a Makefile-based build system, standard folder structure, and .gitignore.

Features

• Simple Makefile-based build system.
• Standard directory structure (src, bin, doc).
• Pre-configured .gitignore for Java, popular IDEs (IntelliJ, Eclipse, VS Code), OS files, and generated directories (bin/, docs/).
• MIT Licensed.

How to Use This Template

Method 1

1. Navigate to the main page of this repository on GitHub.
2. Click the green "Use this template" button (located near the top of the page).
3. Select "Create a new repository".
4. Choose an owner (your account) and a name for your new repository.
5. Click "Create repository".

This will create a new repository in your account, pre-populated with all the files from this template. You can then clone it and start building.

Method 2

Click here to create a new repository from this template.

Prerequisites

Before you can use the Makefile, you must have the following tools installed on your system:

• GNU Make: The build tool used to run the commands in the Makefile.
• Java Development Kit (JDK): Required to compile (javac) and run (java) the Java code.

Directory Structure

• src/: Place your .java source files here.
• bin/: Compiled .class files will be placed here (created by make compile).
• doc/: Generated Javadoc will be placed here (created by make docs).

Makefile Targets

• make all or make compile: Compiles all .java files from src/ into bin/.
• make run: Executes the main class from the bin/ directory (Assumes your main class is named main).
• make docs: Generates Javadoc documentation from src/ into doc/.
• make clean: Removes all files from the bin/ and doc/ directories.

NOTE: Open the Makefile in any text editor and change main to the name of your project's main / entry point Java file

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Copyright (c) 2025 Thomas Kabalin.