What is a Rakefile?

It is an alternative to Makefile with Ruby syntax.

As a follow-up, you may find these resources helpful:

• Using the Rake Build Language
• rake (there are good links here to additional tutorials or webcasts)
• Basic Rake (video of a talk by Jim Weirich)
• Power Rake (video of a talk by Jim Weirich)

Jim was the creator and maintainer of Rake before his death in 2014.