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How do you write the canon for a programming language that you created? Some writers will spend much of the reader's time trying to prove that their language is naturally superior because it was conceived by their superior mind. They are the ones that sprinkle their books with phrases like "as you can clearly see" as a preamble for ideas only understood by green-blooded science officers that say goodbye with "live long and prosper." Even among the humble, most write a reference book with the warmth of a logarithmic chart and the pathos of a decision table. But, in keeping with the Perl philosophy of TMTOWTDI, Wall shows us a more excellent way.
Programming Perl has warmth, personality, and, at unexpected times, brilliant wit. It feels like a explanation from a close friend. It even has a short section on Perl poetry.
How warm is it? Perl is the only language with an officially sanctioned thingy. A thingy, as defined by the authors, is "a value that is sort of like an object, that you may or may not know the name of, but that you can refer to via references from which the thingy dangles, metaphorically speaking." I don't feel quite so guilty now for checking the do-lollies in my C code by setting the warning level to puke-on-all.
Programming Perl is not an easy introduction to the language. This is especially true for the UNIX-challenged. The authors casually assume you know about things (or should I say thingies) like character block devices, UNIX-file permissions, and utmp files. If you expect a C> prompt when you sit down in front of a SUN -- start with a different book. Also, Programming Perl, like the language, is very dense. Complex ideas are compressed into the shortest space possible. What else would you expect from the folks that brought you the elusive and oft unseen $_ variable? If you are new to Perl and inherited a web site with Perl CGI scripts that must be changed by next Monday, try Learning Perl by Randal Schwartz instead.
While Programming Perl is not a good introduction, it is the definitive reference of the language. It is the one required book for all Perl programmers. It is the original source for syntax, semantics, and core functionality. It is the Perl version of The C Programming Language by Kernighan and Ritchie. It's the same thing, only funnier.
-- Donald Bryson (dbryson@tclock.com)
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Explanation of ERCB rating scale: No stars = unacceptable, 1 Star = marginal, 2 Stars = average, 3 Stars = above average, 4 Stars = exceptional.