diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3a45f35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+default: help
+
+# The general philosophy and functionality of this makefile is shamelessly stolen from compiler explorer
+
+help: # with thanks to Ben Rady
+	@grep -E '^[0-9a-zA-Z_-]+:.*?## .*$$' $(MAKEFILE_LIST) | sort | awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*?## "}; {printf "\033[36m%-20s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2}'
+
+.PHONY: debug
+debug:  ## build in debug mode
+	cmake -S . -B build -GNinja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=On -DCPPTRACE_BUILD_TESTING=On
+	cmake --build build
+
+.PHONY: release
+release:  ## build in release mode (with debug info)
+	cmake -S . -B build -GNinja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=On -DCPPTRACE_BUILD_TESTING=On
+	cmake --build build
+
+.PHONY: debug-msvc
+debug-msvc:  ## build in debug mode
+	cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=On -DCPPTRACE_BUILD_TESTING=On
+	cmake --build build --config Debug
+
+.PHONY: release-msvc
+release-msvc:  ## build in release mode (with debug info)
+	cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=On -DCPPTRACE_BUILD_TESTING=On
+	cmake --build build --config RelWithDebInfo
+
+.PHONY: clean
+clean:  ## clean
+	rm -rf build
+
+# .PHONY: test
+# test: debug  ## test
+# 	cd build && ninja test
+
+# .PHONY: test-release
+# test-release: release  ## test-release
+# 	cd build && ninja test
+
+# .PHONY: test-msvc
+# test-msvc: debug-msvc  ## test
+# 	cmake --build build --target RUN_TESTS --config Debug
+
+# .PHONY: test-msvc-release
+# test-msvc-release: release-msvc  ## test-release
+# 	cmake --build build --target RUN_TESTS --config Release