| Product: |
Learning Perl - Randal L. Schwartz |
| Date: |
06/01/01 (22 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Teaches the language at a basic level, engaging style of writing
Disadvantages: Not for experts
A couple of years ago, I was required to learn a scripting language to perform a number of routine tasks. I decided to go for Perl, mainly because of it's popularity, and also the fact that the vast majority of CGI scripts are written in Perl.
The book I chose to start with was Perl 5 For Dummies, another in the Dummies series. I had never bought any of these books before, so was pleasantly surprised to find how useful the book was. The O'Reilly books are generally reckoned to be the definitive works on all computing topics, but I thought the Perl books looked a bit daunting for someone just starting with the language.
Perl 5 For Dummies starts at a basic level, introducing the reader not just to the fundamentals of the language, but also to the mind-set of Perl programmers (dare I say Perl hackers?). The motto "There's more than one way to do it" perhaps explains why Perl can be a bit on the complex side for beginners - the number of ways to achieve any given task is limited merely by your imagination.
Nevertheless, this book manages to give you a basic grounding in how to write basic Perl scripts. There is a section on CGI, but this is a bit on the short side, and anyone looking to learn about CGI should probably go for a more specialised title.
There is a reasonable section on regular expression matching, possibly the most powerful feature of the language.
As I have learnt from browsing other Dummies books, the style of writing is very informal, although some people may find it a touch patronising at times.
The book comes with a CD-ROM that allows you to install Perl 5 and play about with it to see what you can achieve.
Although this book will not appeal to anyone with a knowledge of the language, it is recommended for beginners. After having read this book I am now considering moving on to more advanced Perl books, possibly those produced by O'Reilly.
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