Customer Reviews

Perl Cookbook

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Invaluable text that offers quick and varied solutions to the most common perl tasks. I like the variety of solutions; generally the first one they suggest is the one of the ideas you'll have had for solving the problem; then they refine it into most robust, idiomatic perl, which means you have the option of learning how the pros do it.

Oh, and the index is well laid out, which is absolutely essential in the must-finish-this-program-by-tonite sort of book that this is.

I consider myself a beginner Perl-hacker. I use Perl to accomplish directly applicable tasks for my work (Logic Designer). I hack as little as needed to get the job done.

Having said that, when I have a new problem to solve, this is the first book I peruse for ideas... and more often than not I find something very useful and applicable.

I love Perl. I am almost obsessed with it. I have even left love messages for my wife in the mirror written in the best Perl I can manage. That's not to say that I am a Perl expert--not by any means. I think I shall forever remain a student as there is always more to learn. I am always searching for the latest Perl tidbit and I usually turn first to an O'Reilly book. One of the latest publications to come from O'Reilly on the subject of Perl is the second edition of the Perl Cookbook. Five years have passed since the last edition was published and a lot has changed in that short time span.

For those of you looking to improve your physique without leaving your desk, you'll find hefting this latest edition better suited to the task. It's about 200 pages thicker and about 543 pounds heavier. Okay, so the weight is an exaggeration. There are 80 new recipes (and two new chapters) covering technologies such as Unicode, XML and mod_perl. Even if you own a copy of the first edition, you will find the new recipes and the updated recipes of great value.

For those of you unfamiliar The Perl Cookbook, you will discover a rich treasure trove of excellent solutions to vexing problems. While the Perl Cookbook won't teach you the basics of Perl, beginners can benefit from not having to reinvent the wheel for addressing common tasks such as sorting, traversing, printing or deleting hashes. Advanced Perl Mongers may find the updated discussion on process management, object orientation and module creation enlightening.

This is a first and best of the O'Reilly cookbooks. A few people have told me, "I don't know Perl, I just use the cookbook." It's sad but true. But it shine well on the book that has recipes for literally all the basic stuff you will need on a daily basis with multiple version of each solution so that you can pick the one that works best for you.

A must have for any Perl programmer. Code snippets for nearly any conceivable scenario. This book can save you time.

Already having considerable experience as a professional programmer mostly from system level software, I started out my new job as a database programmer with little to no previous hands-on Perl experience at a company unit where Perl was the commonly used tool for various data collecting and manipulation tasks, which compelled me to learn Perl very rapidly. After digesting the Perl syntax from "Programming Perl", I picked up this book and was instantly able to code a reporting utility by referencing this book whenever I encountered a problem I didn't know the Perl solution for, such as smart ways for processing user input or even rounding floating point numbers.

Eventually I've read this book a few times from cover to cover and learned various common practices that I repeatedly, and successfully, apply in my day-to-day programming tasks, and some of the stuff in this book is even applicable to various other environments.

A recommended read for people who prefer to learn Perl by doing, and you just might add some tricks up your sleeve even if Perl isn't your primary interest.

This book is useful in a 1000 ways.

I go back to it at least 3 times a week.

If you code in PERL, get this book.

The Second Edition of the Perl Cookbook will be coming out in two months (August 2003). I always like to know this before buying a book. This does not mean that this new edition will be better than the original, just something buyers should be aware of.

After reading Learning Perl and Perl Programming, if you read this, you'll be 95% set in regards to everything you will need to know to be a genuine professional Perl programmer. Those three books, from beginner to advanced, will leave you wanting only a little more in your thirst for Perl knowledge. You'll be in a position to learn the rest through experience and online recources--this saving a lot of money (unless you like to connect every single O'Reilly book anyway, like me).

This has to be the most used book on my bookshelf. Even more than programming perl. This book is not for those who are just starting, but is an excellent reference for daily users.