cascade

1. compiler A huge volume of spurious error-messages output

by a compiler with poor error recovery. Too frequently,

one trivial syntax error (such as a missing ")" or "}")

throws the parser out of synch so that much of the remaining

program text, whether correct or not, is interpreted as

garbaged or ill-formed.

2. messaging A chain of Usenet followups, each adding some

trivial variation or riposte to the text of the previous one,

all of which is reproduced in the new message; an includewar in which the object is to create a sort of communal

graffito.

3. networking A collection of interconneced networking

devices, typically hubs, that allows those devices to act

together as a logical repeater.

[Jargon File]

(1997-07-17)