Re: [9fans] Plan 9/plan9port coding conventions

["John Floren" <john@jfloren.net>]

> (1) For example, P9 code tends to use variable names like "i" and "j",
> where I would typically use self-documenting variable names like "row"
> and "col".  Variable names like "row" and "col" are much easier to
> search for (i.e., with a right-click), too.  Names like "i" and "j"
> (which occur in many identifiers) will generate many false positives.

If everyone in the world uses i and j as row/column indexes into
arrays, aren't they self-documenting?

One reason is that in FORTRAN, identifiers that began with I
through...  N? were automatically integers.  Thus, I and J were easy.
There may be a good reason for that, I've heard that it came from
quaternions but that may be false.


John