We have a "rectangular" double loop, meaning that both loops go to completion.
So there are 3*4=12 executions of t:=t+ij.
Assuming two operatiions per execution of the innermost loop, (i.e. ignoring the implied additions in increment of subscripts), we have 12*2=24 operations in all.
Here the number of operations (+ or *) is exactly known (=24).
Big-O estimates are used for cases with a varying scale of operations, governed by a variable (usually n) to indicate the sensitivity of the number of operations relative to a change in the size of n.
Here we do not have a scale, nor n is defined. The number of operations is constant and known at 24. So a variable is required to find the big-O estimate.
