Learning Perl

I am a computer professional, but not a programmer. I took a C++ course in college, 10 years ago, and in the last couple years I have taken up Bash scripting. I figured I could probably do more if I learned a real language, instead of just playing with Bash. This book did not disappoint. It's been excellent. It takes a very practical approach to educating the reader on the mechanics of Perl, focusing on cumulative knowledge as the chapters move along. The text is reasonably engaging, and the material moves at a good pace - not too fast and not too slow. The exercises at the end of the chapters help reinforce the material, and even includes estimates of how long the programming should take. It clearly articulates differences between Perl versions without droning on incessantly about tiny nuances. It is riddled with footnotes for more advanced users to help them understand more and more exceptions to basic rules, as they are initially taught by the text. To be clear, this book isn't a book that teaches how to program. If you're looking for something that covers procedural logic, this is not the book for you. However, I would suspect that even someone without a deep computer background, but just a strong willingness to learn, would find this book beneficial. If you ARE a programmer, you might find it a bit novice, and the pace a little slow - maybe not though, maybe you should just absorb the material faster and fly through the chapters. It's hard for me to say. It was exactly what I was looking for, and after some more practice, I believe I may be moving on to Intermediate Perl .

This book is very good, and by far the best Perl book 1. it has emphasized a lot on perl principle: 2. it compares a lot of different usage and lead you to know how and why 3. it has a lot of information I have ever bought another perl book "beginning perl by Jame Lees", and read about it. Though the latter is a good book, it has not touched why and how to use perl when there are choices. That has forced me to continue to search for another book. Actually I find this book by luck. I had attended some perl training program, and it has touched a lot more in-depth about perl. Then I found this book is one of the two major reference book. The only drawback is that the book can be more compact by cutting those verbose sentences. So, I am skipping a lot of readings by jumping from examples to examples to understand concepts, why and how to use perl.

It's no wonder this book is a classic and listed in almost every resource I've seen online as the go to book for learning Perl from the beginning. The book is well laid out, very well detailed without being overly complicated and cryptic, and covers enough material to really get going on most simple, but effective, perl scripts. The authors' over use of the Flintstones is a bit annoying and unnecessary. Nevertheless, the concepts are clearly described and laid out and then nicely reinforced by a few exercises at the end of each chapter. My only complaint in that regard is that I would have liked to see more exercises that I could use to sharpen my teeth included. Despite that, though, I think the book is a perfect start for anyone looking to learn the structure and utility of perl programming, and gives a very nice foundation that one can use to go further into the language with more complex data structures and programs.

Love this book. I set myself at a pace to read about 10 pages a day and that seemed to be a good pace for me. Soaked in the material very well and I love the exercises. I have a few minor gripes but nothing worth docking a star for. For example they occasionally use features you haven't learned yet without explaining, there are a couple things I don't think they spend enough time on or make you practice enough (eg: working with filehandles) and I think toward the end of the book they got a little bit lazy with the exercises. Also you'll hate the flintstones by the end of the book. Those gripes aside this is a fantastic way to learn Perl. The first script I wrote after finishing the book was over 500 lines and automated a painful task I had to do every day at work.

Amazing book on Perl. I first read Programming Perl over a decade ago, and hadn't really touch Perl much since. This book is an amazingly quick read for someone with existing programming experience. That's not to say it's not comprehensive or small. It's both comprehensive and full-sized. You will be able to do 90%+ of most programming tasks with just this book (and a little research of your own, in the places the book directs you to). I am looking forward to the next 2 books in series!

I initially bought this 1st edition book in 1997 and read every page on my bus ride to work. This is the only programming book I have read every page of and thoroughly enjoyed reading. I do have the other O'Reilly Perl books ( Programming Perl, Perl Cookbook, Regular Expressions ) and enjoy them but they are just too heavy to lug around and so they get left at home while I love to carry my lightweight Learning Perl book for a quick 15 min read at bus stop or coffee shop. This book makes Learning Perl a breeze and I highly recommend it. Buying the 6th edition will be my 3rd purchase of this book. This is the only tech book I have purchased multiple times due to getting the updates and due to book getting worn out by myself carrying it around.

Item as described. Thanks

Ten years ago, when I got my first Systems Analysis job, my manager told me to learn Perl. I bought Learning Perl and devoured it. In the years that followed, I added other Perl titles from O'reilly to my library as I cranked out everything from conventional Perl scripts to full blown diesel-powered, object oriented, state machines to auto-generate and publish DDS messages from xml templates and IDLs. Even after a decade of Perl scripting, Learning Perl continues to be my most-used Perl resource. If I could only have one Perl book, Learning Perl would be it. It is well written, practical, and includes a good index. The pages of my copy are dog-eared and thumb-worn.

Il testo è uno di quelli d'obbligo per iniziare con il Perl ed è chiaro e scorrevole, ottimo compagno nell'approccio al linguaggio Perl. La consegna di Amazon supera i tempi indicati in positivo: il libro è arrivato una settimana prima, inoltre, pur di seconda mano, è come nuovo.

I bought this book after reading an earlier edition from the library twice. I hadn't touched programming since BASIC as a kid, and even then I just copied projects from books. Schwartz goes through the basic principles of Perl in a logical and concise manner. I found through my first read I had to go a lot slower around regular expressions and take my own notes, and test out what he was telling me. I was able to easily grasp the concepts, even without being right in front of a computer the whole time. I still will pull out Learning and Intermediate Perl whenever I start a Perl project, because both books make great references after reading through them. Highly recommend this book if you are looking for a language that will manipulate data quickly and effectively.

The book arrived in great condition and is an excellent intro to Perl, presenting concepts in a sensible order and makes everything easy to grasp with great examples and exercises. Reads much more easily than the Camel book, getting you from 0 to writing useful code much more quickly. I definitely recommend it!

Lo encargué para una compañera de trabajo que se iniciaba en perl. Según sus propias palabras "Es divertido, y se explican muy bien".

If you want to learn perl, then this is the book you need to buy and work through. There is none better.