[meatmanek]

Cryptic code can be acceptable if:

1. You are the only person who will ever look at the code, and you are used to seeing this kind of cryptic code.
2. You know the people looking at your code (teammates, coworkers, etc) can understand it.
3. You need process and memory-optimized code, because you are working on a system with a relatively slow processor and relatively small memory (The RC, for example).

Remember, though, you should _ALWAYS_ comment your code, especially if it is cryptic. What if your grandmother (who I'm assuming doesn't know C) wanted to read and understand your code?