diff --git a/makefile.basic b/makefile.basic
index 3c57450..2f9d058 100644
--- a/makefile.basic
+++ b/makefile.basic
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ INCLUDE_DIRS::=include
 CXXFLAGS::=-g -std=c++17 -Wall -pedantic -Wextra
 EXT::=cpp
 MAIN_EXECUTABLE::=tester
+RELEASE?=0
 
 ifneq ($(WINDOWS),1)
 	CXX::=g++
@@ -48,11 +49,15 @@ else
 	MAIN_EXECUTABLE::=$(MAIN_EXECUTABLE).exe
 endif
 
-all: CXXFLAGS+=-O0
-release: CXXFLAGS+=-O2
-
-memchk: LDFLAGS+=-fsanitize=address -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fno-optimize-sibling-calls
-memchk: CXXFLAGS+=-O0 -fsanitize=address -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fno-optimize-sibling-calls
+ifeq ($(RELEASE),1)
+	#a lot of false strict aliasing warnings from gcc 9
+	CXXFLAGS+=-O2 -Wno-strict-aliasing
+else ifeq ($(MEMCHK),1)
+	LDFLAGS+=-fsanitize=address -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fno-optimize-sibling-calls
+	CXXFLAGS+=-O0 -g3 -ggdb -fsanitize=address -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fno-optimize-sibling-calls
+else
+	CXXFLAGS+=-O0 -g3 -ggdb
+endif
 
 ifeq ($(OS),Windows_NT)
 	mkdir=mkdir $(subst /,\,$(1)) > NUL 2>&1
@@ -74,17 +79,14 @@ OBJECTS::=$(addprefix $(OBJDIR)/,$(subst \,.,$(subst /,.,$(addsuffix .o,$(SOURCE
 
 .PHONY: all
 all: $(MAIN_EXECUTABLE)
-.PHONY: memchk
-memchk: all
+ifeq ($(RELEASE),1)
+	$(CXX) $(LDFLAGS) $^ -o "$(basename $(MAIN_EXECUTABLE))" $(LDLIBS)
+	$(STRIP) --strip-all "$(MAIN_EXECUTABLE)"
+endif
 
 $(MAIN_EXECUTABLE): $(OBJECTS)
 	$(CXX) $(LDFLAGS) $^ -o "$(basename $@)" $(LDLIBS)
 
-.PHONY: release
-release: $(OBJECTS)
-	$(CXX) $(LDFLAGS) $^ -o "$(basename $(MAIN_EXECUTABLE))" $(LDLIBS)
-	$(STRIP) --strip-all "$(MAIN_EXECUTABLE)"
-
 define GENERATE_OBJECTS
 
 $$(OBJDIR)/$(subst \,.,$(subst /,.,$(1))).%.o: $(1)/%