Makefile `go version` and the `read` command

Question

I want to extract and verify go version in Makefile.

This works in shell:

% go version | read _ _ version _ && echo "A $version Z"
A go1.21.1 Z

But doesn't work in Makefile

check-golang-version:
    go version | read _ _ version _ && echo "A $$version Z"

The result:

% make check-golang-version
go version | read _ _ version _ && echo "A $version Z"
A  Z

Ultimately I wanted to have check like this:

check-golang-version:
    go version | read _ _ version _ && test "$$version" = "go1.21.1" || $(error "wrong go version: $$version")

Answer 1

By default, make uses /bin/sh as the shell (see 5.3.2 Choosing the Shell).

And it's very likely that when you execute the command in a shell, the shell is zsh. The zsh pipeline behaviors differently from most of the other shells. See https://riptutorial.com/zsh/example/19869/pipes-and-subshells for an example.

I would recommend to use go env GOVERSION to get the version of go and assign it to a Makefile variable:

version = $(shell go env GOVERSION)

check-golang-version:
ifneq ($(version), go1.21.1)
    $(error wrong go version: $(version))
endif