I see it as a natural part of Perl 6's gradual typing approach, ie. a feature, not a mis-feature. It can be mis-applied. It arguably has been mis-applied in th

I see it as a natural part of Perl 6's gradual typing approach, ie. a feature, not a mis-feature. It can be mis-applied. It arguably has been mis-applied in this example. But I can also argue it the other way. It depends on whether the intro's goal is to address overly simplistic general criticisms ("sigils are ugly and unnecessary!") or to inculcate mature understanding from the get go.