Perl6 book

[ioneabu]

On Amazon there are two O'Reilly Perl 6 books.

Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials, Second Edition by Allison Randal, et al
(Paperback - June 2004)
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Perl 6 Essentials by Allison Randal, et al (Paperback)
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I am thinking of getting the 2nd one for $2.82 just to have a look. Is
the Perl 6 info already wrong and outdated from one book to the other?
Do I really need to know all about Parrot right away?

Thanks!

wana

 

[Michele Dondi]

On Amazon there are two O'Reilly Perl 6 books. [snip]
I am thinking of getting the 2nd one for $2.82 just to have a look. Is
the Perl 6 info already wrong and outdated from one book to the other?
Do I really need to know all about Parrot right away?

I read at a bookstore a large part of "Perl6 Essentials". I don't
remember which edition it was, not that I care, and I doubt it
matters: after staying for some time in p6l I realized it was obsolete
the very moment trees were cut or even before...


Michele

 

[Anno Siegel]

On Amazon there are two O'Reilly Perl 6 books. [snip]
I am thinking of getting the 2nd one for $2.82 just to have a look. Is
the Perl 6 info already wrong and outdated from one book to the other?
Do I really need to know all about Parrot right away?

I read at a bookstore a large part of "Perl6 Essentials". I don't
remember which edition it was, not that I care, and I doubt it
matters: after staying for some time in p6l I realized it was obsolete
the very moment trees were cut or even before...

While true, and acknowledged by the authors, this doesn't mean the book
is useless. The book doesn't (and can't) tell you how to program in Perl
6, but it does give you an idea what it will be like to program
in Perl 6, and that is much less likely to change. I, for one, have
bought it and enjoyed the outlook a lot, even if I know better than to
memorize syntax at this stage.

Anno

 

[ioneabu]

I did not buy the first edition of the book; I waited for the second.
I do not regret buying it. Are you going to use it to implement
production code in Perl 6? No. But if you haven't had the time to
keep up with the development of Perl 6 as reported in the weekly
summaries, the second edition gives you a good starting point. I, for
one, found it a considerably more challenging read than I would have
expected.

Jim Keenan

I just want to get a feel for what Perl 6 is all about. I came into
Perl so late as it is, maybe getting in on the ground floor of 6 will
make me feel more at home.

Can anyone recommend links to some good starter information? I went to
the Perl 6 site and ended up reading a bunch of speeches by Larry Wall
and some really vague stuff about Perl 6.

Thanks!

wana

 

[Michele Dondi]

While true, and acknowledged by the authors, this doesn't mean the book
is useless. The book doesn't (and can't) tell you how to program in Perl
6, but it does give you an idea what it will be like to program
in Perl 6, and that is much less likely to change. I, for one, have
bought it and enjoyed the outlook a lot, even if I know better than to
memorize syntax at this stage.

I would like to point out to the OP and to everyone else that I second
completely your cmt and to stress that my claim was _not_ meant to
picture it as _useless_.


Michele

 

[Michele Dondi]

An overly harsh judgment, IMHO.

I must admit that in some sense it is.

I did not buy the first edition of the book; I waited for the second.
I do not regret buying it. Are you going to use it to implement
production code in Perl 6? No. But if you haven't had the time to
keep up with the development of Perl 6 as reported in the weekly
summaries, the second edition gives you a good starting point. I, for
one, found it a considerably more challenging read than I would have
expected.

However please note that even if my words may suggest the contrary, I
never wanted to suggest that the book has no value whatsoever. See
also my followup to Anno's post.


Michele