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What do I mean by Hebrew notation? Well, you've all heard of Hungarian notation, right? The notation that makes every variable name both unreadable and unpronouncable? Well Hebrew notation is very similar. You drop all the vowels from the variable name. To decrease readability further you may drop any remaining constants until the desired effect is achieved.
For example: numbers -> nmbrs --> nrs"Why would anyone do that?" I hear you cry. We know that people use Hungarian for misguided reasons but at least there is a reason. What reason could there possibly be for Hebrew notation? Well, I don't know, but I do have a theory. Back in the day, FORTRAN 66 programs had a limit of 6 characters for identifiers. Almost every variable name you can think of had to be shortened to fit within this limit so FORTRAN programmers got used to creating very short identifiers right from the start. I reckon this habit has persisted right up to the present day, even though those programmers learnt new languages where the limit does not apply. Even FORTRAN 77 dropped this limit, but many people moved to FORTRAN 77 from FORTRAN 66 and old habits die hard.
Some programmers that use Hebrew notation have never been exposed to FORTRAN. So, how did they get the habit? Simple. They learnt programming by looking at code created by FORTRAN programmers. These FORTRAN or ex-FORTRAN programmers started to write C with these short identifiers. Then, when they moved from C to C++ they still carried this habit over.
These programmers often don't know or will not admit to the FORTRAN influence on their habit. But they do sometimes give another excuse, an extremely feeble one: they say it is less typing. As Mr Spock would say: 'true, but irrelevant, Captain'.
FORTRAN has a lot to answer for. Its legacy lingers on, even with people that have never heard of it.
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