Learing Perl Learning Perl, 6th Edition review

Overview

This isn’t the first Perl book that I have read but I feel a bit rusty right now and I want to pick up the language again, so there’s a new 6th edition of Learning Perl that just came out and I decided to get a copy for myself.

Perl 5.14 just was just released and this book appears to be what is considered a classic text in the Perl world. I’m not sure you would benefit from a newer edition if you happen to grab an older copy from someone you know but if you have the choice, I guess it’s better to go with the newer edition.

Content

The book takes a bottom up approach, it covers the basics about the syntax and gives enough information for you to start writing basic scripts that are not only useful for manipulating text or administering a system but at the same time not really teaching you about programming in general or how to organize larger Perl programs.

The examples are shown in a logical order in order to teach concepts that are fairly straightforward and easy enough to understand.

Each chapter ends with an exercise in order to help you consolidate or push the boundaries of your knowledge by using the building blocks from the new concepts exposed on the previous pages.

Verdict

This is indeed a good book for a beginner with no programming experience at all or someone wanting to grasp the basics of the language. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in starting out Perl.