I find the current syntax ugly and not readable:

Weird isn't it how differently people perceive particular syntaxes. I find the (long form) dereference syntaxes completely consistent and eminently readable (provided they are formatted correctly; which is short-hand for saying: the way I do it :)

• ${ <thing> }: reference thing as a scalar.
• @{ <thing> }: reference thing as an array.
• %{ <thing> }: reference thing as a hash.

The internal whitespace around thing is imperative IMO, and with it, it is (I find it) totally clear, concise and consistent. The three holy Cs of syntax.

Personally, I would much rather have seen the short-forms ($$ref, @$ref & %$ref) removed than have another, less concise, less orthogonal, less consistent, less in-keeping-with syntax, added.

Hm. That last part isn't quite right; let me try that again.

1. Pointlessly more verbose.
2. Totally arbitrary.
3. Utterly inconsistent (with anything).
4. Confused and confusing.
5. Completely out of keeping.
6. Muddled and muddling.
7. Like fitting a wing mirror to your garden shed.

Simply the pointless, capricious, because-we-can assertion of the ability to foist whimsy on us muggles. Of course, no one has to use it; but some will, and thus the damage is done.

In short, exactly what has gone wrong with p5p for the last few years.