Perl is a powerful programming language that has grown in popularity since it first appeared in 1988. The first edition of this book, Programming Perl, hit the shelves in 1990, and was quickly adopted as the undisputed bible of the language. Since then, Perl has grown with the times, and so has this book. Programming Perl is not just a book about Perl. It is also a unique introduction to the language and its culture, as one might expect only from its authors. Larry Wall is the inventor of Perl, and provides a unique perspective on the evolution of Perl and its future direction. Tom Christiansen was one of the first champions of the language, and lives and breathes the complexities of Perl internals as few other mortals do. Jon Orwant is the editor of The Perl Journal, which has brought together the Perl community as a common forum for new developments in Perl. Any Perl book can show the syntax of Perl's functions, but only this one is a comprehensive guide to all the nooks and crannies of the language. Any Perl book can explain typeglobs, pseudohashes, and closures, but only this one shows how they really work. Any Perl book can say that my is faster than local, but only this one explains why. Any Perl book can have a title, but only this book is affectionately known by all Perl programmers as "The Camel." This third edition of Programming Perl has been expanded to cover version 5.6 of this maturing language. New topics include threading, the compiler, Unicode, and other new features that have been added since the previous edition.

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Programming Perl, 3rd Edition Review,  January 14 2003
Submitted by David T.   [Respond | View]

This programming book was by far the best I've read from any company. This is the first book I got from Oreilly, and the first book I got on PERL - and I was amazingly surprised that a "text book" could be written so well. The book is very well designed, with just enough off-topicness to keep the book interesting while reading it. In many ways this book seems more like a story book than the old mundane books I read in the past from other companies. I highly respect this book , and hope that I can find other books from this same company for other subjects.


Programming Perl, 3rd Edition Review,  May 05 2002
Submitted by Steve   [Respond | View]

This book is great! It is like no other language book I have read. I could actually read this book miles away from a computer and still feel confident in perl. This book is NOT for the beginner and having at least basic UNIX experience is required(you have no excuse, linux is FREE or sorry GNU/Linux). The one point that does bite is that the book is not rigidly structured but it does not race too far forward that you are left with an example that is not understandable. I would recommend this book to those who want to learn Perl fast and at a slow pace(I've heard Learning Perl is good). The authors(which include Perl creator Larry Wall) have produced a solid Perl book. Good book,go buy!


Programming Perl, 3rd Edition Review,  March 26 2002
Submitted by vinit   [Respond | View]

It is a good book for basic knowledge and for people with less programming background. This is the only book I have used so far so I can not make a better judgement but there were lot of places where it makes reference to c++ programming and unix commands and talk about it a lot. for someone who is not a computer geek or does not know another programming language its better to find a book which includes every single basic concept(ofcourse if you have time)Capters 1-10 and 15 were really well explained. but other chapters had more text but they were hard to understand.

My overall experience was good. I guess I just need to read it one more time as it says in preface to find out some humor and detailed concepts


Programming Perl, 3rd Edition Review,  January 17 2002
Submitted by Rebecca   [Respond | View]



This book is very well written and has a lovely style to it unusual in computing books. It makes easy work of difficult concepts.

However, I would like to point out that the index is not very good at all. In fact, in some cases it is completely wrong, especially towards the end of the book. This means that using it as reference material can lead to much aggravation.

Rebecca


Programming Perl, 3rd Edition Review,  January 12 2002
Submitted by Shane Witschen   [Respond | View]

Do I even need to say anything here?? It seems like everyone already knows...

An excellent mix of humor and information. This book reads with the audacity of a fiction novel and the intelligence of a technical manual. As in-depth and entertaining as any book you'll ever pick up. Larry Wall is my hero!!

Although I don't recommend this book for beginners to programming, I do recommend it for those of you out there who know and love to program, and just want to add perl to your bag of magic tricks. In-depth, easy to understand, and damn near impossible to put down!! My bookshelf would never be the same without it.


Programming Perl, 3rd Edition Review,  July 17 2001
Submitted by Russell Hansberry   [Respond | View]

I have a few feet of bookshelf space devoted to Perl. This is the book I use most frequently.

As a beginning tutorial, it is long and detailed. For intermediate and advanced tutorial use, the 3rd edition is much improved over the 2nd edition. It shines as a language reference. I am picky about indexes. The index is good but it could be better.

If you are only going to buy one book for tutorial and reference, buy this one. If you are going to buy more than one Perl book, buy this book for reference. If you bought the 2nd edition and like it, buy the 3rd edition, you will not be disappointed.

So with such a strong recommendation, why did I not give this book the highest rating? There is a technical issue in Perl, described below, that needs to be documented.

Perl uses a process model to do work in parallel. UNIX natively works this way but Windows works differently. On Windows, processes are simulated with threads. Perl threads are still experimental although that should be fixed in the not too distant future. When you do a fork under UNIX it works but under Windows it appears to work then you get a visit from Dr. Watson sometime later. The cause is that most of the Perl library is not thread safe.

My criticism of this book is that any application that uses processes portably, uses threads or uses the fork function under Windows needs to know which Perl library functions are thread safe and which are not. If that critical information was included in this book, I would have given it the top rating.




Programming Perl, 3rd Edition Review,  July 05 2001
Submitted by kajalpadhya   [Respond | View]

This book is really very nice.i have an great experience of new language.


Programming Perl, 3rd Edition Review,  March 14 2001
Submitted by Francis Law   [Respond | View]

There is no doubt about the authors' knowledge and experience with Perl. The book provides many exciting hints and insight to the script. However, I will not recommend it to any beginners to Perl.

Besides, some examples does not produce results described by the author.


Programming Perl, 3rd Edition Review,  January 07 2001
Submitted by Paresh Patel   [Respond | View]

Highly definitive and in-depth explanation of Perl!!!

CAREFULLY PLANNED REPLACEMENT OF PERL MANULS

Main disadvange: You won't find any practice problems or self-assessment test, which I think is a major turn-off for beginners like me, but considering the extensive and higly informative material, I had to keep up with the book by referring other books for practice problems!!!

You read 100 books on Horse Riding and go for your first ride.....

Practice makes man perfect!!!! How many time do you hear that!


Programming Perl, 3rd Edition Review,  September 01 2000
Submitted by Eddie Welker   [Respond | View]

I just got started learning Perl with this book, and it has to be the easiest (and instantly most useful) computer book that I have ever read. The first few chapters are quick and simple, and the rest of the chapters seem to go into great detail. I reccomend this book to anyone.

GO CAMEL!


Programming Perl, 3rd Edition Review,  August 14 2000
Submitted by Bob Tribit   [Respond | View]

They have done it again! The camel book has never left my side, and the 3rd edition is out just in time to replace my dog-eared 2nd edition.

Programming Perl, provides excellent coverage of threading, unicode, and Perl v5.6. Not only are there better examples, and better explanations, but a handy marked reference on the side of the book for perl functions, pragmata, modules, and a glossary.

I think it goes without saying, but get this book for your library!


Programming Perl, 3rd Edition Review,  July 31 2000
Submitted by Paul Decker   [Respond | View]

I think the 3rd edition is a marked improvement over the 2nd edition. The feel of the book is much more like the older "pink" versions of The Camel Book... and I like it a lot better. There are subtle differences in the presentation and type face that give the book the more concise feel of the earlier edition. I really like the revised layout, and the slight decrease in the amount of whitespace on the pages. It really enhances the readability.

The content is superb... I think the re-write enhances the material dramatically. Definately worth the price... although as Perl gets more popular the books get more expensive. :)

Thanks to the authors and editors for a good product! (although, I'll probably still refer to my "pink" copy from time to time. )

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