Only if they are well-known in the language you’re using or domain you’re writing for. x and y are fine for coordinates. i and j are fine for loop indices. But abbreviating things unnecessarily is bad IMO. s = GetSession() is too terse, for example.
No, I mean single-letter vars are standard in physics and math, but reusing vars is not acceptable. Obviously they’re not good practice except in the scenarios you describe, but mathies gonna math.
Length might have mattered in the 80s and 90s when IDEs were crap but we got autocomplete in pretty much all our text editors (even TUI ones like vim).
As for readability there is an argument to be had in specific contexts, but 9 out of 10 times it makes more sense to use a proper word.
Example:
let list = [1, 2, 3];
for i in list {
println!("{}", i);
}
In this case using item in the place of i would be more fitting.
When you are used to math equations, it’s easy to slip into that habit.
Single letter variables, yes. Reusing them? No.
Only if they are well-known in the language you’re using or domain you’re writing for.
xandyare fine for coordinates.iandjare fine for loop indices. But abbreviating things unnecessarily is bad IMO.s = GetSession()is too terse, for example.No, I mean single-letter vars are standard in physics and math, but reusing vars is not acceptable. Obviously they’re not good practice except in the scenarios you describe, but mathies gonna math.
Naming variables by single letters is faster than a full 10-15 character word. Also sometimes more readable depending on context.
Length might have mattered in the 80s and 90s when IDEs were crap but we got autocomplete in pretty much all our text editors (even TUI ones like vim).
As for readability there is an argument to be had in specific contexts, but 9 out of 10 times it makes more sense to use a proper word.
Example:
In this case using
itemin the place ofiwould be more fitting.