WRT actual code editing and terminal usage the early years were dominated by text interfaces with typically at most 25 lines by 80 characters. (Greater height and width came with a steep increase in price).
This fostered shorter meaningful "names" for everything from types to variables to system commands; things were far easier to grasp when short operations fitted on a single line, at worst spilled onto few others, and functional groupings fitted on a screen.
This fostered shorter meaningful "names" for everything from types to variables to system commands; things were far easier to grasp when short operations fitted on a single line, at worst spilled onto few others, and functional groupings fitted on a screen.