[G3rn0ti]

> And half the time it doesn’t work because the hash is actually a ref

Perl still supports both „copy by value“ and „copy by reference“. For example:

  my @copy = @original;
  my %hash_copy = %orig_hash;
  my @processed = foo_func(@copy);
  my $ref = \@copy;
  bar_func($ref); # modifies @copy in place

That’s why it uses these sigils to distinguish between references being scalar values (“$”) and actual lists/dictionaries (“@“ and “%”). Since Perl is also dynamically typed if it weren’t for the sigils, it would be quite confusing when reading “array[i] =“ somewhere not knowing whether it modifies an array created remotely or locally. Sigils communicate that because it reads “$array[$i] =“ for a local array or “$$array[$i]” for a remote one.

In other languages like JavaScript or Python everything is basically a reference and, hence, you don’t quite need sigils there. However, on the flip side, you need to be more careful and constantly remind yourself of the fact you are dealing with references and not to accidentally modify the objects you get passed into your function.

[tremon]

not knowing whether it modifies an array created remotely or locally

Yes, good language design allows the programmer to ignore details such as how an object was created or where it is stored.

Having to remember something like that violates so many design principles. Why would a programmer using the array need to know how it was created? It just adds unnecessary complexity to the code, making the programmer's job harder than it needs to be. It's accidental complexity ossified in the programming language.

[G3rn0ti]

> Having to remember something like that violates so many design principles.

While I am inclined to agree, this is the case for many languages. Python and JS for example IRC. When you receive a dictionary or an object as a function argument you have no write protection if you poke around inside of it. Perl makes it at least a bit more obvious.

In C++ you have constant reference signatures if you happen to use them but the syntax is also not exactly pretty.

In C you only may pass pointers to an array which is even done implicitly. No write protection either.