Sigils

They may look like line noise to the uninitiated, but I dearly miss them when I'm not working in Perl. They offer anchor points to my eyes - I can see where there's a variable and where there ain't with just a casual glance over the code. Together with Java's tendency to use reallyLongMashedTogetherIdentifiersWithNoVisualSpacing and the fact that as a strongly typed language, it needs a lot of paperwork to get the simplest tasks done, it takes me many times longer to figure out the shortest bits of Java, compared to Perl where a short eye-over will often suffice to tell me what's going on.

CGI = clunky

You can write CGI scripts in Java too. Guess how clunky that is. *grin* They're not realizing that mod_cgi != perl.

Taint

Well, I needn't reinstate the previous points. If you don't check your input data for single quotes, Java's security model won't prevent you from feeding user-supplied SQL into your database. Java is "secure" because it the VM mistrusts the code. Perl is secure (if the programmer took the proper care) because the script mistrusts its input. There's a fundamental difference in the way of thinking here. The former mainly fixes symptoms and makes me as the programmer feel handcuffed. The latter lets me hang myself with the long leash I have if I'm careless, but constantly reminds me to be cautious and responsible.