Use "go help [command]" for more information about a command.

[Lloyd Dewolf]

Hi nuts,

I was noticing the pattern of

Use "PROGRAM help [command]" for more information about a command.

for some go programs, and so I traced it back to Go's own help.

The more common (pedantic) pattern would seem to use angle brackets, as although command is an optional parameter of help the sentence seems to require a command in this context:

Use "PROGRAM help <command>" for more information about a command.

There is also a weird asymmetry in this short 'go help' as it starts:

Go is a tool for managing Go source code.

Usage:

go command [arguments]

It starting with
go <command> [arguments]
might improve clarity.

After writing this I was pleasantly surprised to find 'svn' and 'git' follow this pattern and may be where I get this from as they are among the --help I utilize the most.

I suspect this was done on purpose and so I hesitate to report an issue. Your thoughts?

Thanks,
Lloyd

[Kartik Singhal]

On Saturday, October 11, 2014 3:53:15 AM UTC+5:30, Lloyd Dewolf wrote:

Hi nuts,

I was noticing the pattern of

Use "PROGRAM help [command]" for more information about a command.

for some go programs, and so I traced it back to Go's own help.

The more common (pedantic) pattern would seem to use angle brackets, as although command is an optional parameter of help the sentence seems to require a command in this context:

Use "PROGRAM help <command>" for more information about a command.

There is also a weird asymmetry in this short 'go help' as it starts:

Go is a tool for managing Go source code.

Usage:

go command [arguments]

It starting with
go <command> [arguments]
might improve clarity.

After writing this I was pleasantly surprised to find 'svn' and 'git' follow this pattern and may be where I get this from as they are among the --help I utilize the most.

That's a pretty neat observation.

 

I suspect this was done on purpose and so I hesitate to report an issue. Your thoughts?

 I doubt this was the case, it seems to have been the same since the origin of the file (src/cmd/go/main.go, changeset:   9901:7ae32f195afd), rsc should be able to tell better. No harm in reporting issue, I guess.