zlacker

>>todsac+(OP)
In fairness, Perl died because it was just not a good language compared to others that popped up after its peak. Sometimes people just move to the better option.

>>mmastr+53
There was so much complexity hidden behind "do what I mean". For example, scalar vs array context which was super subtle:

  my @var = @array  # copy the array
  my $var = @array  # return the count of elements in array

>>athert+g4
What exactly is complex or "super subtle" about this? It's the textbook example from the 1st chapter in the tutorial or something?

>>creer+3a
It's just very non-obvious what the code does when you're skimming it.

Especially in a dynamic language like Perl, you wouldn't know that you're passing down an integer instead of a function until the code blows up in a completely unrelated function.

>>athert+ua
Then use one of the type systems for Perl.

https://metacpan.org/pod/Type::Tiny

>>weare1+Yd
You can't do that if you gave up at the very first sigil puzzle.

I'm fine with that: to program in Perl you need to be able to follow manuals, man pages, expert answers, - and even perl cookbooks, or CPAN or web searches. It's a technical tool. The swiss army chainsaw. It's worth it.