If perl had use strict; and -w (warnings enabled) by default so that you had to switch them off if you didn't want them I doubt python would have gained such tr

If perl had use strict; and -w (warnings enabled) by default so that you had to switch them off if you didn't want them I doubt python would have gained such traction as being "easier" and "more readable." The power of perl would have been better tempered by some responsibility. I liked perl and kinda miss it sometimes but I guess I'm not too unhappy about moving to python. Python is fine. I am pleased to find out how wrong I was about significant whitespace. Having the shape of the code reflecting its content and meaning is actually a great thing. You can think, this shape looks (un)pleasant before understanding the code in detail. Better yet is never, ever having yet another goddamn argument in a team meeting about python bracing style. Python's success makes it impossible to argue that people won't accept a mandatory indenting policy as part of the semantics of the language anymore. It's an open choice for all future languages to adopt if they deem it worthwhile, not refuse to entertain because "the users will revolt." With Perl's demise we still wait for the lisp of mass appeal for all perl as a lisp lacked uniform syntax.