3.2.3 How Do I Compile Using a Make Utility?

When compiling using a make utility (such as make), the compilation is usually performed as a two-step process: first generating the intermediate files, then the final compilation and link step to produce one binary output (as described in 4.2.3 Multi-Step C Compilation).

The MPLAB XC8 C Compiler uses a unique technology called OCG that uses an intermediate file format that is different than traditional compilers (including XC16 and XC32). The intermediate file format used by XC8 for C source files is a p-code file (.p1 extension), not an object file.