zlacker

>>speckx+(OP)
I think it is due to the fact that Perl has some confusing bits like those variable prefixes ($@%), the lack of function arguments (I know that this has changed recently), not really great error handling, etc and so people started using languages which seemed easier to use like Python.

>>mono44+XH
> bits like those variable prefixes ($@%)

Perl originated from shell programming and inherited some of its patterns. If you ever looked at a bash script using arrays you will immediately recognize "@" to access the array as a whole and the switch to the "$" sigil to access a single element from that array. Perl was designed to make it easy for shell script writers to pick it up.