One thought that might keep you slightly sane is that you shouldn't even try to compare Perl 6 with any version before it. Yes, Perl 6 is still Perl, but it is much different than anything that came before it. You say it is hard now, but I'm sure the official releases (in 2007 or whenever Perl 6 is 'complete') will be well documented :). And really... it can't be harder to learn than C++. I hope not anyhow...