The following pretty much sums up my aesthetic taste in Perl code, so stick a coefficient of .000001 on it and put it in the Joe Q. Perlhacker summation.

Rule #1a
A poem is not a good Perl poem if it would be better without the Perl (i.e., if there is a better non-Perl poem trapped inside trying to get out).
Rule #1b
Obfuscated code is not good obfuscated code if it is just a program with the characters shoved around to make ASCII art.
Rule #2
If it provokes an emotional response (other than disgust) and #1 doesn't apply, it's worth posting.
Rule #3
If it provides an "Aha!" moment, it's worth posting.

If the art of Perl poetry can be compared to conventional poetry, then the art of obfuscated code can be compared to mathematical problem posing. It's easy to create code that is laborious to read, but it's hard to create code that rewards the effort of understanding it.

Alakaboo: Don't get frustrated. Perhaps you should emulate the habits of "real" poets, as related to me by a poet friend of mine. Poets write lots of poems. Many poems get scrapped before they are finished, because they were bad ideas in the first place or the poet just got stuck. Poets rework their best poems, show them around, get feedback and perhaps do more reworking, and then pick a very few to publish openly. Of course, it's better to get dissed than to be too shy.

In reply to RE: Insight into perl poetry? by grackle
in thread Insight into perl poetry? by mwp

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