Long variable names are great for software maintainability. Not many of us still use an archaic editor such as VIM or EMACS on a tiny screen where code size is a problem.
The following variable conveys no information to the reader, so the original author helpfully added a comment.
// column count
int c;
Choosing a better name for the variable means the comment is no longer required.
int columnCount;
So expand variable names at every opportunity where it will add some clarity to the code.