title: Makefile: No rule to make target
body: <p>I've got two very similar makefiles but they behave differently.
  I don't understand why ...</p>
  
  <p>option 1:</p>
  
  <pre><code>all: aa
      @echo made
  a% : b%
      @echo ba
  ba : c
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>fails with  </p>
  
  <pre><code>make: *** No rule to make target 'c', needed by 'ba'.  Stop.
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I expect this since c doesn't exist.</p>
  
  <p>option 2 is identical but without the echo:</p>
  
  <pre><code>all: aa
      @echo made
  a% : b%
  ba : c
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This one fails with</p>
  
  <pre><code>make: *** No rule to make target 'aa', needed by 'all'.  Stop.
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>which is weird, since there is a rule for 'aa'.</p>
  
  <p>Why are these two makefiles behaving differently?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks</p>