> - local a,r,k,n = 10000,0 -- initializing only some
> - local sort, open, min = table.sort, io.open, math.min -- caching library functions
The above reminds of an email I sent to my colleagues a couple of weeks ago, which said:
local a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, I, j = k, l, m, n, o, o, q, r, s
One will have to count variables above to figure out what is assigned to what. It is not immediately obvious that the list on the right is shorter than the left-hand list.
(end)
Your first example, with four variables, is already problematic in the sense that while it can be dealt with comfortably, I still have to pause for a brief moment and think along these lines: "5.2, being the second from the left corresponds to r, the second from the left". This flashes through my brain very quickly and so it is almost effortless, but still it means this is less comfortable than the third example, which does not require that sort of reasoning, where I can just see what is assigned to what. So I would say more than three values should be avoided.
