[IggleSniggle]

I write bash python and nodejs all day, and have no professional history with Perl.

One day while avoiding working on something important, I spent half a day learning Perl in order to implement something related to a build tool that was being used in the important thing I was avoiding.

I was blown away. It's a really delightful language. Its big downfall is that it makes it feel good to do something "clever."

Perl is a joy to write, and a devil to read. I liked it, and wish I had started my career earlier so I could have enjoyed Perl in its heyday.

I have similar feelings about Ruby.

[gpvos]

You need to make sure that you write the clever bits clearly. Maybe add a comment. It takes some discipline, but isn't hard.

In fact, Perl remains remarkably robust if you stack clever tricks on top of each other.