this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2026
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Outside of the for loop counters i and j, short variable names are awful. Coming back to old code written with abr var nams is like talking to someone in the military who just constantly throws out jargon and acronyms that they know you don't know.
But so are Java style ObserverFactoryManagerTemplateMachinistTemplater names.
There's a sweet middle ground of short, but actually descriptive name. Sometimes it's not possible but that's usually a code organization / language / framework smell.
Too short variable names is usually a sign that you need to use a proper ide, with auto complete, or that you need to use a proper build process that will minify your code after the fact.
Too long names are usually a sign that your module of code (function, class, namespace, etc) is too large, or that your language/framework naming conventions are too strict, or the language doesn't encapsulate scope properly.
I’ve started to prefer writing it out as ”index” or ”iteration” even in for loop counters. It’s easier to read, and not much harder to type.
idxis the ideal name for an index, change my mindYh, y cn sv a lt f spc wtht ths unncssr vwls
I is a vowel too but you sure can!
Edit: also I noticed you dropped one 'y' but not the others. Is this an accident or some subtlety to do with y's 'semi-vowel' status? To be discussed.
t's prbbl t kp wrds rcgnzbl. Hw ls wld knw wht h s sppsd t b?
I had to leave most of first letters, and sometimes if all vowels are removed there's nothing left
But yeah, we need a committee and come up with a standard for that