makefile wildcard function and *

1.* searches your filesystem for matching filenames.
2.I suggest that you always wrap it in the wildcard function
 	When * matches no files, it is left as it is (unless run in the wildcard function)

thing_wrong := *.o # Don't do this! '*' will not get expanded
thing_right := $(wildcard *.o)

all: one two three four

# Fails, because $(thing_wrong) is the string "*.o"
one: $(thing_wrong)

# Stays as *.o if there are no files that match this pattern :(
two: *.o 

# Works as you would expect! In this case, it does nothing.
three: $(thing_right)

# Same as rule three
four: $(wildcard *.o)