For two dimensions, i and j are still easy enough to follow. Starting at 3, it's very rare to not have better names resulting from context, like x, y and z for spacial coordinates, etc.
but many people do
They shouldn't. Iterating over data structures with C-style numeric for loops is a much worse habit than calling a variable data. But fair point on the intent of the exercise, sometimes we have to write "bad" code to avoid having to think up a convoluted example just to illustrate a very basic principle.
I've never understood why people use i and j for loop variable names. I prefer x, y, and z because they are generally used for looping spatially over an array (columns = x, rows = y, depth = z). Using x, y, and z also mirrors the Cartesian-like planes in mathematics fairly well. That is, anyone with a strong math background will understand x, y, z, and n intuitively while i and j are largely meaningless with i being used for imaginary numbers. i and j and l (lowercase L) are also the thinnest characters in many fonts, making them harder to read.
The answer is mostly because of Math, and what "i" and "j" stood for and it's pretty easy to understand how it made it's way into code. Luckily these days, simple "for" loops can be often be replaced with functional versions, or use "for...of"
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For two dimensions,
iandjare still easy enough to follow. Starting at 3, it's very rare to not have better names resulting from context, likex,yandzfor spacial coordinates, etc.They shouldn't. Iterating over data structures with C-style numeric for loops is a much worse habit than calling a variable
data. But fair point on the intent of the exercise, sometimes we have to write "bad" code to avoid having to think up a convoluted example just to illustrate a very basic principle.I've never understood why people use
iandjfor loop variable names. I preferx,y, andzbecause they are generally used for looping spatially over an array (columns = x, rows = y, depth = z). Using x, y, and z also mirrors the Cartesian-like planes in mathematics fairly well. That is, anyone with a strong math background will understand x, y, z, and n intuitively while i and j are largely meaningless with i being used for imaginary numbers. i and j and l (lowercase L) are also the thinnest characters in many fonts, making them harder to read.Check out this Answer on StackOverflow:
stackoverflow.com/a/4137890/4035952
The answer is mostly because of Math, and what "i" and "j" stood for and it's pretty easy to understand how it made it's way into code. Luckily these days, simple "for" loops can be often be replaced with functional versions, or use "for...of"