[TUHS] The 'usage: ...' message. (Was: On Bloat...)

[Rob Pike]

The Cornell PL/I compiler, PL/C, ran on the IBM 360 so of course used batch
input. It tried automatically to keep things running after a parsing error
by inserting some token - semicolon, parenthesis, whatever seemed best -
and continuing to parse, in order to maximize the amount of input that
could be parsed before giving up. At least, that's what I took the
motivation to be. It rarely succeeded in fixing the actual problem, despite
PL/I being plastered with semicolons, but it did tend to ferret out more
errors per run. I found the tactic helpful.

-rob
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