[ILUG-Social] Perly

[Niall O Broin]

On Wed, Oct 11, 2000 at 03:30:07PM +0100, Stephen Shirley wrote:

> Mornin',
> 	I've decided to learn perl. It's about time. I've also decided
> that it would be worth my while investing in a book to help me do so. The
> problem is that O'Reilly have many fine books on the subject:
> 
> Learning Perl, 2nd Edition 
> Perl in a Nutshell 
> Programming Perl, 3rd Edition 
> 
> etc. etc. etc
> Now - does anyone have any recommendations about which would be best for
> an absolute perl beginner? Or any other books? Bear in mind that I am a
> programmer by profession, so complete idiocy _cannot_ be assumed -)

The Perl CD Bookshelf gets you a hard copy of 'Perl in a Nutshell' and that
book + the following books on CD

Learning Perl
Learning Perl on Win32
Programming Perl
Advanced Perl Programming
Perl Cookbook

The slight fly in the ointment is that Programming Perl is only the second
edition, but that is nonetheless a very good book. I know Ken recommended
'Learning Perl' but it's very basic - it's good to read for an introduction,
but you'll never refer to it again, so it's just fine on a CD. Programming
Perl is the bible (Perl's K & R, if you like. I learnt C from K & R but I'd
hate to try to learn Perl from Programming Perl). The Perl Cookbook is an
excellent "dipping into" book for ideas when you know the language. Advanced
Perl Programming has its moments. I've never so much as looked at the Win32
book - anyone want to buy that part of my CD :-)



Regards,



Niall