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The limited size helps with keeping the code short and simple. ;-)



Historically there was a bifurcation between scientific/technical computing and business computing. The former wanted to write something close to E = mc², while the latter wanted `MULTIPLY MASS-IN-GRAMS TIMES SPEED-OF-LIGHT-IN-A-VACUUM-IN-METERS-PER-SECOND TIMES SPEED-OF-LIGHT-IN-A-VACUUM-IN-METERS-PER-SECOND GIVING ENERGY-IN-JOULES`. With the dotcom boom, the last vestiges of the old republic were finally swept away, and now even C programmers get slapped for writing `c`.




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