What's your favorite 1 character length variable name?

[hcf@infosec.exchange]

On @catsalad prompt I talked to an LLM and #TIL:

# Good
max_temperature = 30

# Risky (though valid in Python)
️_max = 30

Now I want to try it when I get to a console

[darthnull@infosec.exchange]

@petealexharris @catsalad Especially if the next nested loops are j and then k.

I wonder how many people just use i because it's what they've seen, and have no idea of where it came from...

(IIRC, weren't i, j, k (and maybe l?) specially treated by the FORTRAN compiler to specific data types for speed? It's been a looong time...)

[linuxandyarn@hachyderm.io]

@catsalad For loops in my shell one-liners use A for IP addresses, D for directories, F for files, H for hostnames, N for numbers, and U for users. And yes, I capitalize them because one-character variables should call attention to the fact that they're temporary and easy to lose.

[linuxandyarn@hachyderm.io]

@dgodon @catsalad paging @laurieandersonlyricbot2

[placebo@mastodon.ie]

@BarneyDellar @catsalad totally understandable

[elysemgrasso@wandering.shop]

@darthnull @petealexharris @catsalad i through m were integers, so useful for counters and array indexes

[dgodon@mastodon.online]

@linuxandyarn @catsalad @laurieandersonlyricbot2 https://mastodon.social/@laurieandersonlyricbot2/11645770166764335sonlyricbot2@mastodon.social https://mastodon.social/@laurieandersonlyricbot2/116457701667643358

[darthnull@infosec.exchange]

@petealexharris @ElyseMGrasso @catsalad "misremembered." heh. At this point, the fact that I remember anything at all about this bit of programming lore, I consider a victory.

(integrating assembly with FORTRAN on a Unisys mainframe was one of my favorite weird assignments in college...)

[australopithecus@mastodon.social]

@catsalad
𓂺
(U+130BA, from the Egyptian hieroglyphs block)

[ericdere@mastodon.nl]

@catsalad a for lambdas, i for iterations

[catsalad@infosec.exchange]

@australopithecus The censored in Windows hieroglyphs!

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph censorship is the worst idea ever. - Microsoft Q&A

As a Egyptomania, I often type hieroglyphic words in window OS, but have some problem. There is a problem with fonts being censored when using phallus-shaped letters in Windows OS. 𓂸𓂹𓂺 𓂸𓏤𓂹𓏤𓂺 If other hieroglyphs are added next to this letter,…

(learn.microsoft.com)

[faraiwe@mstdn.social]

@catsalad ::draws ancient Quenya tengwa symbol, whispers its name, watches the air fill with ethereal light and a thrumming::

[qgustavor@urusai.social]

@catsalad I wish I could change my vote

[icing@chaos.social]

@catsalad `i`, my code is very complex.

[wcbdata@vis.social]

@catsalad Is this multi-choice ironically?

[finitebaffle@mas.to]

@catsalad who tf voted for the “lodash” ‍️

[iamlayer8@mastodon.social]

@catsalad
It’s I for nostalgia reasons. But I like emojis in code and the last one is just cool.

I demand equal treatment for all Unicode!

To be honest, there should be dedicated Unicode characters for code.
(now everybody should be aware that I’m not a programmer myself)

[lijepasam@social.vivaldi.net]

@catsalad
doing math: x
coding : i

[dc4ac@radiosocial.de]

@catsalad Actually, it's ѭ

[luc0x61@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@catsalad The all times favorite, thanks to math and K&R, can only be i, but... I do a lot of MISRA strict code, so nothing shorter than 4 char and meaningful in the context!