& Co, New York 1985, ISBN 0-393-01921-7).

:cascade: /n./ 1. A huge volume of spurious error-message
output produced 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 is interpreted as garbaged or ill-formed. 2. 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 {include war} in which the object is to create a
sort of communal graffito.

:case and paste: /n./ [from `cut and paste'] 1. The addition of a new
{feature} to an existing system by selecting the code from an
existing feature and pasting it in with minor changes. Common in
telephony circles because most operations in a telephone switch are
selected using `case' statements. Leads to {software bloat}.

In some circles of EMACS users this is called `programming by
Meta-W', because Meta-W is the EMACS command for copying a block of
text to a kill buffer in preparation to pasting it in elsewhere.
The term is condescending, implying that the programmer is acting
mindlessly rather than thinking carefully about what is required to
integrate the code for two similar cases.

At DEC, this is sometimes called `clone-and-hack' coding.

:casters-up mode: /n./ [IBM, prob. fr. slang belly up] Yet
another synonym for `broken' or `down'. Usually connotes a
major failure. A system (hardware or software) which is `down'