why are all prerequisites timestamps checked, even after one is found to be newer than target??

[Mark Galeck (CW)]

Hello, 

 

I just called make –d on a target with many prerequisites.  Make examined all the prerequisites – whether they needed to be rebuilt, and after that, started checking the timestamps.  The first prerequisite was found to be newer than target. 

 

Then why did it continue to check the timestamps of all the rest of the prerequisites??  Is this not a waste of time?  How to prevent that behavior?

 

Mark