Which Perl book would be the best for me?

Question

I started learning Perl a couple of months back.

• The first stage was learning how to do things differently in Perl. Initially I always had the C mindset of doing things and would translate them to Perl code.

• Then, mainly through some questions here on SO, I learned about a variety of different techniques that Perl offers for the tasks that I want to do.

• Now, the situation is that I am able to think in Perl, but only as much as I know from reading about on the internet or what some of you have suggested in the answers to my questions.

I think I need a good book here, so that I at least know all about what Perl has to offer, the different ways of doing things. Sometimes it is after I have written some code that I figure out there was a lot better way to do the same thing in Perl, but I was just not aware of it.

I know about this thread that suggests some books, but I am not sure which one would be the best for me.

• I need a book that can show me different ways of doing some simple tasks in Perl and explain why and which ones are better.

• Also, I want to be able to give it a reading in about 30 hours.

Which one should I go for?

Answer 1

Given your needs, I would definitely vote for: Programming Perl (i.e., the camel book), with Learning Perl a close second.

Answer 2

The best is the O'Reilly's CD bookshelf.

Answer 3

Learning Perl by Randal Schwartz is one of my favorite programming books. It is well written, informative, and not a daunting reference book like Programming Perl.

Answer 4

I think the best way is to see lots of idiomatic perl code, therefore I highly recommend Perl Cookbook.

Answer 5

I am enjoying reading the new version of Effective Perl Programming. It has nice digestible and useful tips for the newer versions of Perl.

Answer 6

a second vote for Programming Perl, in particular, the value of reading it from cover to cover. after that, i recommend picking up any of the very recent books that covers the vast number of meaningful changes that have taken place since Progamming Perl was written - in particular, Modern Perl by chromatic

Answer 7

You all have covered the books, just as an addendum then I would like to add that the built-in documentation in Perl is excellent!

I learned Perl by reading perldoc perlintro and from there wrote some basic scripts. perltoc is the table of contents and from there you can go anywhere. It may not be the fastest or most clever, but its all there mostly readable and (perhaps best) always at your fingertips, even if you are programming on you morning train commute, like me.

You may already be past this stage, though even in that case it is a great reference. Maybe this post is more for the completeness of the post for budding future camels.