Assignment to slice

[Josiah Carlson]

> >Hell, I think that Perl variables are f-ing weird.  In the dozen
> >languages I've learned over the years, Perl is the only one where you
> >have to say hey, you this variable I'm accessing now, it is a scalar,
> >not a string.  What the hell is that?  On the other hand, Perl users
> >have gotten used to it, and don't think it is strange.
> 
>    This seems to have emerged from a Perl tendency to
> implement values as strings wherever possible.  You're
> saying "Use the stringness of this variable, rather than,
> say, its intness."  Weak typing, but it's what lets Perl
> automatically fill in missing array values with some
> assurance that it won't all go kaboom in the next statement.

Mel,
There are many ways to assure "that it won't go all kaboom in the next
statement".  Perl's choice is just that, a choice.  Every language
designer gets to make more than a few (close to semi-infinite) choices
in how their language is going to work.  The rest of us get on with our
lives and use the language.  Please let us get on with just writing code
in whatever language we feel we need to, and stop talking about the
different individual choices that every language designer made in the
last 10 years.

 - Josiah