Hi,
I am about to start writing a thesis. I was looking online for some sample latex layouts and I see many people have fancy makefiles and scons files for doing the compilation.
I am confused. Why do I need these if I am simply using pdflatex and include/input commands to structure my document? Anything significantly important about doing it with scons/make?
Thanks
General ⇒ why use scons or make?
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Re: why use scons or make?
Who do you see using makefiles, etc.?
I can’t think of any reason you’d need any such thing, unless you were really doing something fancy.
I can’t think of any reason you’d need any such thing, unless you were really doing something fancy.
why use scons or make?
I created a custom makefile for my thesis, mainly to save time and typing. I use latex->ps->pdf, with each step including a few options/flags. Initially I had aliases for the two conversions and one to do latex;bibtex;latex;latex.
The makefile groups everything together, was a bit of an academic exercise, and makes my life easier, especially as I transfer the entire thesis directory between home and work computers. Part of the makefile runs latex as many times as is required to resolve all internal references so it also adds some automation. It seems to be working as expected so far
If I have altered many chapter files and figures, I can now simply typeinstead of
The makefile groups everything together, was a bit of an academic exercise, and makes my life easier, especially as I transfer the entire thesis directory between home and work computers. Part of the makefile runs latex as many times as is required to resolve all internal references so it also adds some automation. It seems to be working as expected so far

If I have altered many chapter files and figures, I can now simply type
Code: Select all
make pdf
Code: Select all
latex file
bibtex file
latex file
latex file
dvips [options] file.dvi -o
ps2pdf [options] file.ps
- localghost
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Re: why use scons or make?
This way of processing only makes sense when not using a modern editor but doing most of the work on a terminal (whyever).
Best regards
Thorsten
Best regards
Thorsten
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¹ System: TeX Live 2025 (vanilla), TeXworks 0.6.10
Board Rules
Avoidable Mistakes
¹ System: TeX Live 2025 (vanilla), TeXworks 0.6.10