For some people “i” and “j” are a better name than “currentStepInOuterLoop” or whatever other verbose names. I think it really depends on context, though
That's not what this article is about, or literate programming as a concept. Literate programming is mixing prose and code with a greater emphasis on prose. The good tools (including Knuth's) permit the reordering of code regardless of how the compiler may need to see it so that attention can be brought to parts of the code at the appropriate time (in the prose).