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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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"