Why does WordPress prefix its column names with the table name?

Question

I noticed that in a recent update WordPress decided to change all of its column names to include the table name prefix. WHY?!

The wp_posts table now has a column called post_title, for example. It used to just be title. I don't understand the reason for this change. There must've been one, yes?

I just don't understand what possible reason there could be since in SQL you can refer to things like table.column. Also, it must've been really difficult to change all of the code.

Answer 1

Perhaps to prevent confusion when making joins with tables having similar column names.