In this update of a bestseller, two leading Perl trainers teach you to use the most universal scripting language in the age of the World Wide Web. With a foreword by Larry Wall, the creator of Perl, this smooth, carefully paced book is the "official" guide for both formal (classroom) and informal learning. It is now current for Perl version 5.004. Learning Perl is a hands-on tutorial designed to get you writing useful Perl scripts as quickly as possible. Exercises (with complete solutions) accompany each chapter. A lengthy new chapter in this edition introduces you to CGI programming, while touching also on the use of library modules, references, and Perl's object-oriented constructs. Perl is a language for easily manipulating text, files, and processes. It comes standard on most UNIX platforms and is available free of charge on all other important operating systems. Perl technical support is informally available -- often within minutes -- from a pool of experts who monitor a USENET newsgroup (comp.lang.perl.misc) with tens of thousands of readers. Contents include:

• A quick tutorial stroll through Perl basics

• Systematic, topic-by-topic coverage of Perl's broad capabilities

• Lots of brief code examples

• Programming exercises for each topic, with fully worked-out answers

• How to execute system commands from your Perl program

• How to manage DBM databases using Perl

• An introduction to CGI programming for the Web

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 301 Ratings

Start from the beginning and read every word - 2009-08-05
Reviewer Rating:
There could not ever be a better book for learning the Perl programming language than this one. The clarity of thought is unbelievable - the authors manage to provide a huge amount of detail while never going off on a tangent about exceptions to rules (something Perl, like English, is abundant with). If you want to get the basics of Perl under your fingertips in a *very* short amount of time, this is the book for you.

Let's face it - Perl can be a mess sometimes, and if you don't learn it from just the right angle, you'll find yourself knee-deep in a swamp. By choosing this book to learn from I effectively avoided all those pitfalls, and more importantly, adopted a clear way of using the language that has enabled me to write sophisticated, readable, even beautiful Perl code.

After some experience with the language I find it incredibly enjoyable to use, and when Perl is written well, it's easy to read someone else's code (to all you naysayers - yeah, Perl LETS you write bad code, but you don't have to!). This book was key to getting off on the right foot. I would highly recommend it to anyone who has any interest whatsoever in the language. Even if you only plan to write Perl for your own purposes, recreational or otherwise, this is the perfect beginner's tool. Buy it.

Great Book for Beginners - 2009-08-28
Reviewer Rating:
To go along with everyone else, this book is great for beginning to learn how to program in PERL. A must for everyone.

Good, well-written introduction - 2009-08-26
Reviewer Rating:
I was pleased, as I often am with this publisher's books, with the clarity of the text. Within a few hours I was able to write my first useful perl scripts.

This book and a PC (with Perl downloaded, to permit you to execute & test your programs) make for a complete learning environment.

Learning Perl - 2009-08-22
Reviewer Rating:
This book is a great place to start your programming adventure. It clearly lines out complex concepts in a way beginners can understand. I highly recommend this for anyone interested in systems administration or web development.

Good fast shipping - 2009-08-06
Reviewer Rating:
Good fast shipping. Shipped in the state that was stated. I have not had much time with the book so i will not comment on the contents of the book.

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