"Learning Perl" book

[Tuomas]

Hi!

I am teaching myself perl, and I have the book "Learning Perl, 2.ed". Is
this edition now considered outdated since the third edition has been
published? In other words, should I buy the new book?

Thanks!

Tuomas

 

[Veli-Pekka Tätilä]

I am teaching myself perl, and I have the book "Learning Perl, 2.ed". Is
this edition now considered outdated since the third edition

Hi,
Actually there's already a 4th edition out there. See:

http://tinyurl.com/obtxp

The 2nd ed is out of date in places, I think. It doesn't cover using
warnings, diagnostics, doesn't use lexical variables all that much and so
on. Most of the basics are valid still and the 2nd ed was the book with
which I started roughly two years back, I think. It covers some older stuff
that isn't used much or delt with in the 4th ed any more, like formats and
dbm files, if you are interested in those.

I would say that the 2nd ed is a nice start but should not be your only PErl
book. The 4th edition is clearer and more up to date. You should also get a
more advanced book at some point about references, packages, object-oriented
programming and so on. A logical choice would be the "sequel" to Learning
Perl called Intermediate Perl:

http://tinyurl.com/qf5sf

hope this helps.

PS: Both links given here point to amazon.

 

[Tuomas]

hope this helps.

It did! Thanks.

T

 

[rajeev.networld]

I would recommend you using "Programming Perl". That is real guide
book.

 

[Tad McClellan]

I would recommend you using "Programming Perl". That is real guide
book.

The purpose of a reference book (Camel) and a tutorial book (Llama)
are so different that they cannot be meaningfully compared.

 

[Veli-Pekka Tätilä]

I would recommend you using "Programming Perl". That is real guide
book.

Hi Rajeev,
About Programming Perl Vs Learning Perl and Intermediate Perl. It depends on
how experienced you are, how you like to learn and what level of depth is
enough. Of course I would recommend getting all three books and no matter
what, picking up the Camel sooner or later. But personally, I wouldn't start
with the Camel and I got the impression the OP liked Learning Perl (known as
the Lama book):

Even though I had programmed in other languages before (Java and C), I found
approaching the Camel book very difficult, initially. I've always liked the
tone (esp. humor) in it but kind of got lost in to the gorry details failing
to get the big picture. After having read some other Perl books first I
revisited Programming Perl. I still don't find it an easy read, but it is a
great reference if I have to look up something particular especially
something obscure.

As to what style appeals to me, personally I like to start with the very
practical the style in many Sams books comes to mind, though I do realize it
is not for everyone. After having gotten the basics right, something less
verbose and thought provoking would be good, too. I didn't like K&R much
when I started C, and neither was I fond of the Camel Wehn I started Perl.
But both books get better and better the more you learn. K&R, for instance,
tels me how hashes, central in Perl, could be implemented.

All this reminds me of an observation I've made:
In reading some Perl docs followed by Programming Perl's take on the
subject, there are sentences that are very close to each other, as though
the Perl docs were influenced by the Camel rather heavily. Well Larry Wall
created the language so there's nothing wrong in that. But I wonder how
large a portion of the current Perl docs have been written by Larry Wall or
the rest of the Camel authors? Unlike modules and pragmata many of the core
docs, detailing how the language works in reference fashion, have no author
information included.

 

[it_says_BALLS_on_your forehead]

I've had limited success using "Programming Perl" to teach (and/or
learn) Perl. Though after a good grasp of the langauge is acquired,
it is invaluable.

I agree with Tim. I'd recommend the Perl Cookbook for learning Perl. Of
course, the choice of texts is dependent alot upon learning style. I
happen to learn by example much more rapidly and thoroughly than by
reading through an instructional text (although typically the authors
of Perl instructional texts--that I'm familiar with--write with a
certain verve that makes it less dry than other instructional texts).

Once you cut your teeth on the Cookbook, Programming Perl is a great
reference. (It's great for airport reading). Also, don't forget perldoc.

 

[Sherm Pendley]

I would recommend you using "Programming Perl". That is real guide
book.

The Camel is a reference - you can get started with that if you're already
familiar with one (or more) of the languages that influenced Perl's design,
like C, sed, or awk.

But if you're new to programming, or your only previous programming was in
a language that's very dissimilar to Perl, then the Llama is the way to go.

Calling one or the other "the real guide book" is just foolish. They have
different goals and are aimed at different audiences. Each serves its target
audience very well.

sherm--

 

[Tad McClellan]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:

The "real guide book" for Perl are the docs that come with
the perl distribution. Every other source of Perl information
is a _secondary_ resource.

As to what style appeals to me, personally I like to start with the very
practical the style in many Sams books comes to mind, though I do realize it
is not for everyone. After having gotten the basics right,

Whether or not you have gotten the basics right is likely dependent
on what "time frame" appears in the Sam's title.

"24 hours" should be good, Clinton is a Real Perl Programmer.

"21 days" was widely ridiculed in its 1st edition, I dunno about
the 2nd edition, but I doubt it is improved enough.

All this reminds me of an observation I've made:
In reading some Perl docs followed by Programming Perl's take on the
subject, there are sentences that are very close to each other, as though

The pink Camel (1st edition) matched the std docs a whole lot. The
correspondence has weakened with each new edition though.

the Perl docs were influenced by the Camel rather heavily.

I think it went in the other direction, the Perl docs where used
as a starting point for large sections of the Camel book.

 

[CsB]

I learned Perl from the llama book, using the camel as a reference,
and lurking here in clpm... and of course, by copious experimentation.

I agree this is a good route. I picked up the Learning Perl back in
2000. Read it from cover-to-cover and it was off to the races!

I did eventually purchase the Programming Perl. And I use it only as a
reference when I need some more in-depth information. My poor old
Learning Perl book is dog-eared, highligted, and notated lovingly.