1.7.10 is definitely obfuscated, and 1.7 had one of the longest "lifespans" of a Minecraft version.

The best thing to happen to Minecraft is 1.7.10 backporting; the second best thing has been breaking the Forge monopoly on modding.

(The code quality of mods back in the 1.7 days ranges from "pretty decent" to "absolutely horrendous" mind you.)