>>> 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!