Writing obfuscated code, for me, was an excuse for experimenting with various features of Perl that may be useful, but not frequently used. Through writing them, I exposed myself to many of the dusty corners that one might run into accidentally otherwise. To that end, I consider the experience of writing one to be of value as a learning tool. While Obfu doesn't teach good style, it teaches style to avoid, it reinforces the logical thought process, teaches a lot about Perl syntax, and in general, helps to force one to deal with parts of Perl that are often overlooked.