Why is parenthesis optional only after sub declaration?

Question

(Assume use strict; use warnings; throughout this question.)

I am exploring the usage of sub.

sub bb { print @_; }         


        

Answer 1

The reason is that Larry Wall is a linguist, not a computer scientist.

Computer scientist: The grammar of the language should be as simple & clear as possible.

• Avoids complexity in the compiler
• Eliminates sources of ambiguity

Larry Wall: People work differently from compilers. The language should serve the programmer, not the compiler. See also Larry Wall's outline of the three virtues of a programmer.