>>> def foo(first, *rest):
  ...  print first
  ...  print rest
  
  >>> foo([1,2,3])
  [1,2,3]
  ()

*

  sub foo {
    my ($first,@rest) = @_;
    print $first . "\n"; 
    print @rest;
  }

  foo (1,2,3);

  1
  23

*

It's probably my Python deficiency. My claim that Python's syntax was going to be uglier is probably wrong, but I think the claim that Perl's is appreciably worse is also wrong. We can all get along!

Not sure I follow you. Your python example is very explicitly passing a _single_ arguement, a list of three items. If you call it the same way you call the perl code, you'd have the same result.

Exactly, it's a trade-off. Making the other side of the fence not impossible to reach, you just have to hop a little. Perl can easily be made nicer and Python can surely with ease be made more flexible.

use Method::Signatures;

func set (Str $key, Int $val) {