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Programming Perl (A Nutshell handbook) (Paperback)

by Larry Wall (Author), Randal L. Schwartz (Author), Tom Christiansen (Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (57 customer reviews)

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Product details

Paperback: 670 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc, USA; 2nd Revised edition edition (1 Sep 1996)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1565921496
ISBN-13: 978-1565921498
Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 17.3 x 3.6 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (57 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 248,867 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category:
#24 in Books > Computing & Internet > Programming > Languages > Perl

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Larry Wall wrote Perl and he wrote Programming Perl. Better yet, he writes amusingly and well--all of which comes across in this latest edition of the definitive guide to the language.

Like Topsy, Perl just grew, and as a result so has Programming Perl. It's now over 1,000 pages but needs to be as it does several different jobs. Firstly, it's an introduction to the Perl language for those new to programming. It's a guide for those coming from other languages and it's a Perl language reference.

Larry Wall is a linguist, among his other interests, and perhaps for this reason Perl is a peculiarly flexible language with many routes to achieving the same ends, as the authors ably demonstrate. It's also extensible in several ways, designed to work with many other languages and, as it's largely interpreted, Perl programs tend to run unmodified on a variety of platforms--though platform-specific Perl modules and programming practices are also discussed.

A major strength of Programming Perl is the way subject areas are approached from several directions. This constant viewpoint-shifting eliminates blind spots in the reader's understanding as well as providing a pleasing echo of the way Perl itself can take many routes from here to there.

Because the Perl community is both knowledgeable and active the language covers a lot more ground than it did at the time the last edition of Programming Perl was published. Even if you have both previous editions you'll want this latest version--if only for the new jokes. --Steve Patient --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Laurance, linuxdot.org, Oct 2001

Put simply; this book made me a better Perl coder, and is always by my side, waiting to be referred to for the umteenth time. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

57 Reviews

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

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4.5 out of 5 stars (57 customer reviews)

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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensible reference., 7 Nov 2000

By	Dewi Morgan (London, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Programming Perl: There's More Than One Way To Do It (Paperback)

If you want to learn perl, go buy O'Reilly's other book, "Learning Perl". I can recommend it.

If you program in perl regularly, I am sure you already have this book (else how can you have survived?), so I don't need to write this review for you.

For those who have learned perl, but feel the need for a reference on it, this is that reference.

It is well written, and I read all 600-plus pages of it from cover to cover (though not at one sitting!). This was the first time I'd found this in a computing book, and I have to say the experience converted me both to Perl and to O'Reilly.

If you are REALLY serious about perl programming, there are two other good books that fill complimentary niches: "Perl Cookbook" (solutions to common tasks in Perl), and "Advanced Perl Programming". But before you buy them, you need this book in order to be able to understand them.

The book is also an excellent insight into the eclectic mind of the author.

If I were to have a gripe about this book, it's that it has really handy one-liners scattered all over the place, but they are not collated into an accessible list anywhere, so until you get to know the book like the back of your hand, you have to flip through it, saying "I *know* I saw a really elegant way of doing that in a footnote somewhere here...".

also, a quickref card, like that in "HTML: the definitive guide" would be really handy. But then, that's what the perl 5 pocket reference is for.

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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, 29 Mar 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Programming Perl: There's More Than One Way To Do It (Paperback)

I dived straight into Perl with this book (rather than picking up Learning Perl - I'm a skint student!) and actually found it alright. The book itself is excellent and well written - it almost makes bedtime reading. If you are new to programming, find a learning book first. However, if you've got any experience with other languages, you should find this has enough to get you started. After that, the book is an amazing reference. It not only has all the gory details you could want but is packed with interesting snippets of code that fits with the Perl motto, "There's more than one way to do it". The authors frequently show you how TMTOWTDI and you come away from reading this book full of fresh ideas. I'm now totally hooked to Perl - it's one of those things where you keep thinking, "If only I'd learnt Perl earlier, it would have made that task far simpler"! I'm off to buy the cookbook...

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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reference, 30 Aug 2002

By	David Precious (Herts, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Programming Perl: There's More Than One Way To Do It (Paperback)

Once again, O'Reilly have produced an excellent reference work.

This book is probably not a great book to buy if you don't know anything about Perl and have no programming experience. But, if you have previous programming experience or are already familiar with Perl, you'll find this book an invaluable reference source to keep close to hand.

Just about anything you'll need to look up while writing even the most complex of Perl scripts can be found quickly in this book.

I'm a Web Developer for a large UK ISP and this book is continually in use. It's the only Perl book in the office, and the only one needed! I'd highly recommend this book.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Essential, but verbose and irritating
This is the book I learned Perl from - or at least tried to. All the information you need is in here, but it is not always easy to find, and the authors often seem more interested... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Frank T

3.0 out of 5 stars Not If you want to learn in a hurry
This book makes good bed time reading, but it is no good for learning in a hurry. The book contains humorous comments and anecdotes, but these are just annoying to someone trying... Read more

Published 13 months ago by Gordon Chisholm

4.0 out of 5 stars If your serious about Perl then get this book!
This is the first book I read on Perl and I must say it was absolutely excellent. It gives a thorough understanding of the language and is a vital reference for anyone who is... Read more

Published 20 months ago by Shoryuken

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential for lovers of Perl culture, recommended for the rest of us
Perl seems capable of evoking both rapturous adoration and abject disgust from those who are exposed to it. Read more

Published on 14 Jul 2007 by Thing with a hook

4.0 out of 5 stars THE reference, but not to begin with...
This book is an in-depth and comprehensive reference about Perl Language. Despite some depreciative comments I've seen around, it is very well written and is a joy to read. Read more

Published on 15 Nov 2004 by Antonio Oliveira

5.0 out of 5 stars Impress everyone with regular expressions
I have to admit that before using this book I used learning perl. However everything that I learned in the first book was in the first chapter of this book. Read more

Published on 21 Jun 2004 by bernie

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for perl beginners through professionals
For a start, perl is the ultimate data manipulation language. That makes it perfect for a vast variety of fields, network people, bioinformatics, all sorts. Read more

Published on 23 Oct 2003 by Mr. S. J. Littler

3.0 out of 5 stars seen better
When using computer-related reference material, there is nothing more off-putting than a cocky author who attempts to fill the book with drole anecdotes and - even worse -... Read more

Published on 3 Aug 2003 by neilw2

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly excellent book!
Coming from a biological background, having to learn the ins and outs of this language in a short period of time...i thought i was doomed. Thats until i read this book! Read more

Published on 15 Feb 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic reference, must have if using perl
* not an introduction to perl - but many books do a good job at getting one started

* excellent reference book, covers just about everything. Very well laid out. Read more

Published on 22 Jan 2002

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