The "unpack subroutine arguments at the top of the sub" and "declare variables at point of first use" don't always see eye to eye to each other. In fact, the former tends to create a "big ugly block of variable declarations near the top of your sub", something the latter doesn't want to see.

In reply to Re^2: How do I prototype a function with a varying number of arguments? by JavaFan
in thread How do I prototype a function with a varying number of arguments? by lyapunov

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