C: Creating static library and linking using a Makefile

Question

I am trying to understand static and shared Libraries.

I want to do the following to create a makefile that does separate compilation and linking such that a static

Answer 1

Try this:

all: myProgram

myProgram: main.o libmylib.a #libmylib.a is the dependency for the executable
        gcc -lm -o myProgram main.o -L. -lmylib

main.o: main.c
        gcc -O -c main.c main.h

addSorted.o: addSorted.c addSorted.h
        gcc -O -c addSorted.c

freeLinks.o: freeLinks.c freeLinks.h
        gcc -O -c freeLinks.c

libmylib.a: addSorted.o freeLinks.o #let's link library files into a static library
        ar rcs libmylib.a addSorted.o freeLinks.o

libs: libmylib.a

clean:
        rm -f myProgram *.o *.a *.gch #This way is cleaner than your clean

This set of rules first compiles all files, then it makes library (libmylib.a) target and uses it's artifact to link the executable. I also added separate redundant target form making libs only. Needed files:

user@host> ls
addSorted.c  addSorted.h  freeLinks.c  freeLinks.h  main.c  main.h Makefile