if the language or std lib already allows for chaining then pipes aren't as attractive. They're a much nicer alternative when the other answer is nested function calls.

e.g.

So this:

    take(sorted(filter(map(xs, x => x \* 2), x => x > 4)), 5)

To your example:

    xs |> map(x => x \* 2) |> filter(x => x > 4) |> sorted() |> take(5)

is a marked improvement to me. Much easier to read the order of operations and which args belong to which call.