> Perl's references are basically pointers. ... This is really a huge, unnecessary wart in the language. Call me crazy :), but I count this as a pro for perl!

> Perl's references are basically pointers. ... This is really a huge, unnecessary wart in the language. Call me crazy :), but I count this as a pro for perl! It makes thinking about data structures in perl very "regular" for me.. there's a few rules to learn, but then I find it simple to construct (or de-construct) nested data structures while applying those rules. As opposed to other scripting languages, where the difference between "value" and "reference" frequently seems to be more hidden from sight...