New to Perl...book suggestions

Perl Books

[willsteele]

I can do the html, asp, javascript things. To move onto a new step, I must figure out cgi and perl...anyone have book recs? Thanks,

[edited by: jatar_k at 5:45 pm (utc) on May 27, 2005]
[edit reason] no emails thanks [/edit]

[lexipixel]

The Perl Cookbook is a good one to start with.

[jatar_k]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld willsteele,

try this as well
A good Perl book [webmasterworld.com]

[wruppert]

O'Reilly's "Programming Perl" is the main reference. Their "CGI Programming with Perl" is also useful.

[bennymack]

I learned perl with "Perl by example" by Ellie Quigley. It's nice because it has little example programs with a line by line breakdown of the program itself and its output. It sticks to this format consistently throughout the book which is pretty helpful in my opinion. Becasue usually you just need a example of how to properly use a command or an example of correct syntax, etc.

[andye]

"Learning Perl" by Shwartz and Christiansen is the best book for beginners (pub. O'Reilly).

"Programming Perl" by Larry Wall et al is the 'bible' for Perl programmers - you definitely need to get a copy. Also pub. O'Reilly.

Watch out for some of the introductory Perl books - there's a few that are very poor - eg they have example code in them that's poorly written (security problems etc).

PerlMonks - a website - is a very useful resource.

HTH.

Best wishes, a.

[Matt Probert]

I too recommend "Perl by Example".

*DON'T* even consider the Perl Cookbook untill you know the basics, but then it is a fantastic advanced Perl resource.

And don't forget the manual that comes with Perl. Albeit one of the most convoluted, heavy, jargon-ridden, poorly written documents in the history of confusing people! <g>

Matt

[VectorJ]

I found the Visual Quickstart Guide to Perl and CGI to be very useful when I was first learning Perl. It's worth a look.

[rocknbil]

I've never read the Perl cookbook. But I've had the unfortunate honor to deal with a few scripts that came from it and found them burgeonsome, convoluted, and buggy as can be.

The two texts I've worked with most are CGI Programming in a Week and the CAMEL BOOK. While the Camel book is hardly a beginner text, I've worn out two copies of it. After a while a lot of it begins to make sense. :D

[wruppert]

rocknbil - you're absolutley right about the Camel Book. It's like Frank Herbert's Dune - it makes more sense each time you read it.

[ckarg]

I'm just working through my most recent perl library addition: "Pro Perl" by Peter Wainwright (APress). Its one of the most thorough books I've come across, is stuffed with examples, and doesn't gloss over many of the more subtle issues (e.g. variable aliasing in for loops).

Although it does (like many books) start with 'how do I install perl?', it is probably a better "second" book on perl, rather than an introduction. But for anyone who wants to use perl to earn a living, this book will prove worthwhile. The tone omits some of the humor of "The Camel Book", but compensates with many practical examples. Compared to "The Cookbook", it offers much more explanation on why something might be done in a particular way.

I also like that there is no separate chapter on CPAN. CPAN is so much part of Perl. The book recognizes this by introducing suitable modules by topic, e.g. for text processing or networking, rather than treating CPAN as an optional add-on.