for(int i=0; i<size; i++)
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I am sure this was one of the hello-world codes for many of us ... But I wonder why the letter "i" .. I mean why on earth? With "a" the leading character why "i" ... After sometime I found out that Fortran language (which was/is historically used for scientific calculations) use "i" as a starting character for all integer type variables, and the quickest varible to write would be "i" Most authors and coders continued to use "i" even in C and then to C++ and then to C#, Java etc ... Is this an interpretation?
Some of the earliest computer pioneers were mathematicians, and integers are usually represented by i, j and k. I guess it was just a convention academics adopted to avoid having to mentally remap a limited set of typewriter symbols.
"It's true that hard work never killed anyone. But I figure, why take the chance." - Ronald Reagan That's what machines are for. Got a problem? Sleep on it.
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I am sure this was one of the hello-world codes for many of us ... But I wonder why the letter "i" .. I mean why on earth? With "a" the leading character why "i" ... After sometime I found out that Fortran language (which was/is historically used for scientific calculations) use "i" as a starting character for all integer type variables, and the quickest varible to write would be "i" Most authors and coders continued to use "i" even in C and then to C++ and then to C#, Java etc ... Is this an interpretation?
I was using
ifor index before I was introduced to Fortran. -
I am sure this was one of the hello-world codes for many of us ... But I wonder why the letter "i" .. I mean why on earth? With "a" the leading character why "i" ... After sometime I found out that Fortran language (which was/is historically used for scientific calculations) use "i" as a starting character for all integer type variables, and the quickest varible to write would be "i" Most authors and coders continued to use "i" even in C and then to C++ and then to C#, Java etc ... Is this an interpretation?
It's also from FORTRAN for me, but we used just "i" rather than "index" partly because it saved time and space. We didn't have IDE's in those days, but punched cards (or paper tape) and is was a lot quicker to type a single character variable name on a punched card than a longer one. Saved waste as well if you mistyped "index" as "inedx" you had to chuck the card and type a new one. With paper tape each character occupied 1/10th inch of tape, so "index" used 5 times the paper each time you typed it. With a long subroutine, that could get significant and make the roll a lot bigger (and heavier) and harder to roll back up again when it spooled off the end of the reader... We only had 6 character variable names anyway... :laugh:
The universe is composed of electrons, neutrons, protons and......morons. (ThePhantomUpvoter)
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I am sure this was one of the hello-world codes for many of us ... But I wonder why the letter "i" .. I mean why on earth? With "a" the leading character why "i" ... After sometime I found out that Fortran language (which was/is historically used for scientific calculations) use "i" as a starting character for all integer type variables, and the quickest varible to write would be "i" Most authors and coders continued to use "i" even in C and then to C++ and then to C#, Java etc ... Is this an interpretation?
I now use 'loop' as it is easier to read the code though I did use i for many years just because it was the convention.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
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I am sure this was one of the hello-world codes for many of us ... But I wonder why the letter "i" .. I mean why on earth? With "a" the leading character why "i" ... After sometime I found out that Fortran language (which was/is historically used for scientific calculations) use "i" as a starting character for all integer type variables, and the quickest varible to write would be "i" Most authors and coders continued to use "i" even in C and then to C++ and then to C#, Java etc ... Is this an interpretation?
We programmers are a self-centered bunch. It's never about the other person, it's always "I I I" this, "I I I" that. jk, jk. lol. Hmmm... I suppose the letters in preference would have to be: ijklo. An expanding counter-clockwise spiral starting with "i"! From this, we can ascertain the correct letters to use for each new level of loop nesting: ijklouhmpygntfbrdvescwaxqz. Any other order is incorrect.
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I now use 'loop' as it is easier to read the code though I did use i for many years just because it was the convention.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
But "loop" is a verb. :~
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I am sure this was one of the hello-world codes for many of us ... But I wonder why the letter "i" .. I mean why on earth? With "a" the leading character why "i" ... After sometime I found out that Fortran language (which was/is historically used for scientific calculations) use "i" as a starting character for all integer type variables, and the quickest varible to write would be "i" Most authors and coders continued to use "i" even in C and then to C++ and then to C#, Java etc ... Is this an interpretation?
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Yes - for me it is a Fortran language practice. In Fortran IV, any variable starting with I, J, K, L, M, N is an integer (case-insensitive), whereas a variable starting with any other letter is a float. This continued for me, through C, Java, C++, C#.
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I am sure this was one of the hello-world codes for many of us ... But I wonder why the letter "i" .. I mean why on earth? With "a" the leading character why "i" ... After sometime I found out that Fortran language (which was/is historically used for scientific calculations) use "i" as a starting character for all integer type variables, and the quickest varible to write would be "i" Most authors and coders continued to use "i" even in C and then to C++ and then to C#, Java etc ... Is this an interpretation?
As someone already stated, I think it's i for iterator / index. But it also makes it easy to accidentally place a 1 in there e.g. dataset.Tables[1] and not spot a mistake. Sometimes I'll use r and c if iterating through rows and columns e.g. dataset.tables[0].rows[r][c]
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It's also from FORTRAN for me, but we used just "i" rather than "index" partly because it saved time and space. We didn't have IDE's in those days, but punched cards (or paper tape) and is was a lot quicker to type a single character variable name on a punched card than a longer one. Saved waste as well if you mistyped "index" as "inedx" you had to chuck the card and type a new one. With paper tape each character occupied 1/10th inch of tape, so "index" used 5 times the paper each time you typed it. With a long subroutine, that could get significant and make the roll a lot bigger (and heavier) and harder to roll back up again when it spooled off the end of the reader... We only had 6 character variable names anyway... :laugh:
The universe is composed of electrons, neutrons, protons and......morons. (ThePhantomUpvoter)
And, mainly, all the CS textbooks use i and j for loops.
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It's also from FORTRAN for me, but we used just "i" rather than "index" partly because it saved time and space. We didn't have IDE's in those days, but punched cards (or paper tape) and is was a lot quicker to type a single character variable name on a punched card than a longer one. Saved waste as well if you mistyped "index" as "inedx" you had to chuck the card and type a new one. With paper tape each character occupied 1/10th inch of tape, so "index" used 5 times the paper each time you typed it. With a long subroutine, that could get significant and make the roll a lot bigger (and heavier) and harder to roll back up again when it spooled off the end of the reader... We only had 6 character variable names anyway... :laugh:
The universe is composed of electrons, neutrons, protons and......morons. (ThePhantomUpvoter)
Oi vey, us oldies that have worked with paper tape. I've never used it in programming, but way back, when I was in the SA Air Force, I used to man a station that relayed HF radio data from Antarctica to the SA weather bureau. My main comms with down south was a teletype machine at 50 baud after error correction through a (I think Siemens) Elmux machine. If the comms were bad and the data link failed, they'd send the weather data straight to me, to capture on paper tape and later relay to the weather people.
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As someone already stated, I think it's i for iterator / index. But it also makes it easy to accidentally place a 1 in there e.g. dataset.Tables[1] and not spot a mistake. Sometimes I'll use r and c if iterating through rows and columns e.g. dataset.tables[0].rows[r][c]
But I shudder to think why someone would venture right across the keyboard for a '1' instead of an 'i'. Yes, dataset.Tables[1] will work, but why, oh the humanity, why, are you not using the table name?
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I am sure this was one of the hello-world codes for many of us ... But I wonder why the letter "i" .. I mean why on earth? With "a" the leading character why "i" ... After sometime I found out that Fortran language (which was/is historically used for scientific calculations) use "i" as a starting character for all integer type variables, and the quickest varible to write would be "i" Most authors and coders continued to use "i" even in C and then to C++ and then to C#, Java etc ... Is this an interpretation?
I tend to use
Indexinstead ofi(I definitely like verbose identifiers). And when I need several indexes, like in nested loops, I naturally call themJndex,Kndex,Lndex... (not kidding). I have not yet come to the point that I useNumberandMumberfor counts. -
AFAIK it started with the first FORTRAN - there were no type declarations then. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortran#FORTRAN[^]
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I tend to use
Indexinstead ofi(I definitely like verbose identifiers). And when I need several indexes, like in nested loops, I naturally call themJndex,Kndex,Lndex... (not kidding). I have not yet come to the point that I useNumberandMumberfor counts.If it wasn't for our coding standard, I would employ index, jndex... today. I like that idea.
Matt
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But I shudder to think why someone would venture right across the keyboard for a '1' instead of an 'i'. Yes, dataset.Tables[1] will work, but why, oh the humanity, why, are you not using the table name?
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I am sure this was one of the hello-world codes for many of us ... But I wonder why the letter "i" .. I mean why on earth? With "a" the leading character why "i" ... After sometime I found out that Fortran language (which was/is historically used for scientific calculations) use "i" as a starting character for all integer type variables, and the quickest varible to write would be "i" Most authors and coders continued to use "i" even in C and then to C++ and then to C#, Java etc ... Is this an interpretation?
i am using 'i' and 'j' for iterating 2D arrays because 'i' and 'j' mean x and y in Cartesian coordinates. :) http://butterfly.blog.ir[^]
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If it wasn't for our coding standard, I would employ index, jndex... today. I like that idea.
Matt
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i am using 'i' and 'j' for iterating 2D arrays because 'i' and 'j' mean x and y in Cartesian coordinates. :) http://butterfly.blog.ir[^]
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maybe but I don't think so. horizontal -> h not 'i' & vertical ->v not 'j' the 'i' and 'j' are symbols for horizontal and vertical vectors.
