Makefile that watches for changes and passes arguments to rule

Makefile

# Usage:

# $ make test sailor
# echo Hello, sailor!
# Hello, sailor!

# $ make watch test sailor
# while true; do \
#   make  sailor; \
#   inotifywait -qre close_write,create,delete .; \
# done
# make[1]: Entering directory '/tmp/test'
# make[1]: *** No rule to make target 'sailor'.  Stop.
# make[1]: Leaving directory '/tmp/test'
# ./ CLOSE_WRITE,CLOSE other_file
# make[1]: Entering directory '/tmp/test'
# make[1]: *** No rule to make target 'sailor'.  Stop.
# make[1]: Leaving directory '/tmp/test'

# If the first argument is "run"...
ifeq (test,$(firstword $(MAKECMDGOALS)))
  # use the rest as arguments for "run"
  RUN_ARGS := $(wordlist 2,$(words $(MAKECMDGOALS)),$(MAKECMDGOALS))
  # ...and turn them into do-nothing targets
  $(eval $(RUN_ARGS):;@:)
endif

# If the first argument is "watch"...
ifeq (watch,$(firstword $(MAKECMDGOALS)))
  # use the rest as arguments for "watch"
  RUN_TARG := $(word 2,$(MAKECMDGOALS))
  RUN_ARGS := $(wordlist 3,$(words $(MAKECMDGOALS)),$(MAKECMDGOALS))
  # ...and turn them into do-nothing targets
  $(eval $(RUN_ARGS):;@:)
endif

test:
	echo Hello, $(RUN_ARGS)!

watch:
	while true; do \
	  make $(RUN_TARG) $(RUN_ARGS); \
	  inotifywait -qre close_write,create,delete .; \
	done

# References: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2214575/passing-arguments-to-make-run
# and https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7539563/is-there-a-smarter-alternative-to-watch-make