Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
The author immediately disliked COBOL upon seeing its 'perform' keyword, preferring a more straightforward 'do'.
In plain terms
He hated COBOL because its syntax felt clunky.
What can you take from it?
Readability and familiar verbs affect language preference.

Where it applies

  • learning new languages
  • code review

Putting it to work

  • choose languages with clear syntax
  • avoid confusing keywords

Questions to consider

  • What syntax features make a language approachable for you?

Another view

Personal bias can limit exposure to useful tools.

More from Larry Wall

  1. May you do Good Magic with Perl.

    Permalink to quote #308

  2. But we can both blame it all on Henry.

    Permalink to quote #310

  3. It's the Magic that counts.

    Permalink to quote #307

Related quotes

  1. And don't tell me there isn't one bit of difference between null and space, because that's exactly how much difference there is. :-)

    Larry WallLarry Wall quote #2

  2. We toast the Lisp programmer who pens his thoughts within nests of parentheses.

    Alan PerlisAlan Perlis quote #2

  3. If I allowed 'next $label' then I'd also have to allow 'goto $label', and I don't think you really want that... :-)

    Larry WallLarry Wall quote #32