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Learning Perl, Fourth Edition
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Customer Reviews
Rating:  - A REAL WHIRLWIND TOUR
If you want to spend some time learning Perl, this fourth edition of the book is for you. Authors Randal Schwartz, Tom Phoenix and brian foy, have done an outstanding job of providing you with a book that helps you understand why the Perl programming language is the workhorse of the Internet; as well as, the language of choice for system administrators, web hackers, and casual programmers around the world.
Schwartz, Phoenix and foy begin by asking you a number of questions: What does Perl stand for? How can you get Perl? How do you make a Perl program? And, so forth. Next, the authors cover scalar data, with respect to numbers and strings. Then, they examine lists (an ordered collection of scalars) and arrays ( a variable that contains a list). The authors continue by showing you how Perl can make subrountines, which are user-defined functions. In addition, the authors next introduce you to the workings of standard input, output and error streams. They also show you a feature that makes Perl one of the world's great programming languages--hashes. Next, the authors take you on a trip to visit the world of regular expressions, where you can forget about the world of Perl. Then, they show you where this world fits into Perl's world. The authors continue by showing you how to use patterns to locate the parts of strings that you want to change. Then, you'll see some alternative ways to write Perl code. In addition, the authors present a complete set of tests that are used by Perl to help you find information about files. They also show you how Perl lets you manipulate operations directories directly, in ways that are even fairly portable from one operating system to another. Next, the authors show you a simpler way of working with strings and sorting. Then, they present the inner workings of process management. The authors continue by showing you how to use modules that already exist. Finally, they examine some advanced Perl techniques.
With the preceding in mind, the authors have done an excellent job of giving you a real whirlwind tour of Perl. So, at the end of the day, you'll know whether this is the right Perl book for you!
Rating: - very good book for starting perl
This is excellent book for beginers. Why?
1)The authors are established experts on perl. When I say experts I mean so much so they are famous in the perl community. It is also clear from this book that they have a wealth of other knowledge related to perl (especially linux, design patterns, etc).
2)Randal Schwartz's writing is extremely clear.
3)there are exercises at the end of each chapter. of course, if you want to learn a language to have to use it, not just read it. they do not neglect this important fact (like so many other authors). they give their own expert solutions as well. comparing their solutions with your own further facilates comprehension of teh material.
the only minus is i wish they added a few chapter on OO perl and references!
don't start with the camel and skip the llama. even if you are smart enough, it is faster to learn to walk and then run and to try and run from the start.
sorry for any spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, etc. although i spend hours on this book, i wrote this review in a minute or two.
Rating:  - A great book if you are familiar with coding.
Luckily I am familiar with how to code, and so this book turned out to be a fabulous resource. To be fair, the authors state that you should really have done some sort of programming before or this book will not be as much value to you. But with that pre-requisite covered 'Learning Perl' is a fun and information dense learning tool. Not to say that you can't do it if you have never coded before, but it will be more of a struggle.
Coming in at under 275 pages, the book doesn't waste time in getting down to what you need to know. I am a self-learner, and I was constantly amazed at the end of each chapter at how much we had covered. Given such information rich text, you might imagine it to be a little dry. Not so. The book exhibits a quirky, geeky sense of humor. And be warned; it uses footnotes extensively. While that may not be your bag, I found the footnotes made the book more like an internet browsing experience. You use the footnote like a link to more detailed and in-depth information.
I would give the book 5 stars but for one small beef. The authors assume that you are a UNIX programmer. There are numerous references to UNIX arcana, which you are supposed to just know. Phrases like 'If you want to make a Perl program [..] like the utilities cat, sed, awk, [..] and many others..' mean nothing to me. Furthermore there is little (a couple of paragraphs) to explain how to get Perl up and running on a Windows box. Now, I can easily overlook the little Microsoft digs, but I think more of an effort could have been made to reach out to the 'other side'.
So now, I am building my own Perl library. And I love the functionality it gives me. Once I figured out how to call programs from other web platforms I was one happy camper. All in all the time spent with this book was well worth it. Mainly the book provided a quick and comprehensive introduction to a powerful and flexible language. Thankfully the authors took a difficult subject and made it easier with their light in tone / heavy on the info style. Check it out.
Rating: - Learning Perl
This book is very well written. Although this book is technical, it is easy to read and follow. Many good resourses are listed in the book. Also, there are many examples and end of chapter questions that are very helpful in learning perl. I would recommend this to users who are looking at perl for the first time.
Rating: - A classic...
One of the reasons I don't quite think of myself as a computer geek (although I am) is that I don't know some of the "geeky" languages like Perl. I need to rectify that some day, and one of O'Reilly's books will help... Learning Perl (4th Edition) by Randal L. Schwartz, Tom Phoenix, and brian d foy. This is one of the classic Perl guides, and it's well worth owning.
Contents: Introduction; Scalar Data; Lists and Arrays; Subroutines; Input and Output; Hashes; In the World of Regular Expressions; Matching with Regular Expressions; Processing Text with Regular Expressions; More Control Structures; File Tests; Directory Operations; Strings and Sorting; Process Management; Perl Modules; Some Advanced Perl Techniques; Exercise Answers; Beyond the Llama; Index
Randal Schwartz is *the* best-selling Perl author and writer, and it shows in this book. He knows the subject inside and out, and knows how to communicate that knowledge to an audience. In Learning Perl, he and his fellow authors set out to cover the material that you'll use 90% of the time in day-to-day situations. Keeping that as the target, you'll get a lot of value out of working through this title. Each chapter also has a number of exercises at the end that will help you apply and solidify what you just learned. You can even cheat and check out the answers at the end, even though the authors beg you not to... :)
They do assume a background understanding of basic computing and programming concepts, so this wouldn't be the best title if you are looking to learn Perl as your first programming language. Of course, I don't think many people approach Perl from that perspective anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem. With that assumption in place, you end up getting into the meat of Perl quickly. Couple that with a nice conversational approach to the writing, and you've got a book that will take you far. Oh, and don't ignore the footnotes... Some useful information (and great humor) is hidden down there...
If you need to learn Perl and you want to get there quickly, Learning Perl is the way to go. It's stood the test of time by making it to the 4th edition, and there's a reason for that...
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