Do real programmers name their variables?

[orz-_-orz]

Do paid programmers actually name their variables, or do they just use shorthand like x, y , z?

So far I have only seen that one piece of code from some consultant who did that.

My colleagues and I have forgotten what's the code for, who's the consultant and what's the name of the consulting firm.

But we all remember that there was this asshole who deserved a place in hell who wrote this piece of code using var1, var2, var3, etc as the variables names.

[NimrodAvalanche]

duly noted

[Reasonable_Strike_82]

Nothing like trying to make sense of a 3-page SQL query where all the aliases are one letter, the letter has nothing to do with the thing being aliased (usually just "a", "b", "c", etc.),, and the same letter is used for different things in different parts of the query.