It also means you have to grok the language to reap the benefits. Perl is often judged harshly by those who prioritise ease of use for beginners over linguistic elegance and usefulness. Can you imagine going to China and complaining that Mandarin and Cantonese suck because they're not beginner-friendly or that medicine is a pointless practice because it involves learning many complex terms? I've never understood the "Python for readability" mantra.