configure.in or configure.ac?

c unix autotools autoconf
freedrull picture freedrull · Jan 27, 2011 · Viewed 19.1k times · Source

It seems that some autoconf projects use a configure.in file to generate a configure script, and some use configure.ac.

What is the difference/advantage between using one or the other?

Answer

Mark Loeser picture Mark Loeser · Jan 27, 2011

Its just a matter of style. Historically autoconf files were named configure.in. Now configure.ac is the preferred naming scheme. Its also discussed in the documentation.

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