With 64 kilobytes of core memory to run in (and no swap), linkers were usually limited to 6 or 8 character symbol names. Compilers could let you name your varia

With 64 kilobytes of core memory to run in (and no swap), linkers were usually limited to 6 or 8 character symbol names. Compilers could let you name your variables anything but "my_value" and "my_valence_count" would still represent the same thing in memory. Being purposefully parsimonious with your names was good defensive programming practice.