> You mean a comment header like http://futureboy.us/frinkdata/units.txt? No matter how clear and detailed, there comes a point when nobody is likely to remember much of it.
Yes, but I'm not sure that's a very good example. There's a lot going on there -- things not really soluble using multiple-character variables.
> There is an upper limit to how much state we can stuff into our head.
Yep. It's why we have computers. :)
In case that seemed flip, consider this -- if I want to verify that I am using some program variable X in a consistent way, all I need to do is globally search for it and evaluate each case. Modern programming editors will happily list every instance of that variable's use, so I can make sure I'm being consistent. In such a case, a multiple-character variable would likely tend to obscure the issue and complicate the search.
Yes, but I'm not sure that's a very good example. There's a lot going on there -- things not really soluble using multiple-character variables.
> There is an upper limit to how much state we can stuff into our head.
Yep. It's why we have computers. :)
In case that seemed flip, consider this -- if I want to verify that I am using some program variable X in a consistent way, all I need to do is globally search for it and evaluate each case. Modern programming editors will happily list every instance of that variable's use, so I can make sure I'm being consistent. In such a case, a multiple-character variable would likely tend to obscure the issue and complicate the search.