I'd think the latter is better, more flexible yet stable

In case monks forget, eyepopslikeamosquito has a series of The Lighter Side of Perl Culture (Part I) that talks about general stuff, followed by Part II - JAPH, Part III - Obfuscation, Part IV - Golf, Part V - Poetry, and Part VI - April Fools.

So now, we're probably waiting for The Lighter Side of Perl Refactoring, or other series, to come up?