Things like map/grep tricks (Schwartzian transform, for example), lots of use of $_, typeglob manipulation, hash-slices, chaining lots of things with and/or constructs, using lots of closures...

To a Fortran IV programmer used to the 'if not ... goto ...' school of language design, 'if .. then ... else ...' could be viewed as a "trick".

At what point does a standard design feature of a language (Perl) cease to be a "trick" and start to be a feature; a normal , everyday use of the language?

In short, things that are fine in small doses but get hard to read very quickly.

I don't understand this. How does frequency of use affect the readability of a construct?

Do comments become less readable if I use too many of them?

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
Lingua non convalesco, consenesco et abolesco. -- Rule 1 has a caveat! -- Who broke the cabal?
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
The "good enough" maybe good enough for the now, and perfection maybe unobtainable, but that should not preclude us from striving for perfection, when time, circumstance or desire allow.

In reply to Re^5: Thread on Joel on software forum : "I hate Perl programmers." by BrowserUk
in thread Thread on Joel on software forum : "I hate Perl programmers." by techcode

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