Dear [friend]

I dislike the lazy substitution of '4' for 'for' and 'u' for 'you' and all similar expressions of a person's sense that he or she is somehow above or beyond making an earnest effort at correctness.

I believe that the use of primitive utterances as names like 'foo' for data objects reflects a rather deep-seated need that people have to take a break from the meticulous structure of programming. It is a sigh, a moment's rest. And no, the use of foo as a name for data objects does not represent a step onto the slippery slope toward "c u l8r"-speak.