This is actually exactly what I'm arguing. If you have a language with lots of features, you don't write clever or obscure code. The stuff people do with Perl i

This is actually exactly what I'm arguing. If you have a language with lots of features, you don't write clever or obscure code. The stuff people do with Perl is because the language allows it, but doesn't include features to do it for you. That's a sign that something is missing from the language. Consider the Go vs D comparison. D has good support for templates. Occasionally, templates are a big help, so every once in a while you should use them. In those cases, if you're writing D, you add a templated function and everything is concise and readable. In Go, you do one of several things, none of which is concise and readable. Future you will thank you for using D and taking advantage of it's features. Features support the writing of disciplined code. Lack of features forces hacks, duplication, and crazy workarounds. The latter is what you're seeing when you look at ugly Perl code.