Perl For Dummies

by Paul E. Hoffman

The standard for Perl books is, of course, Perl founder Larry Wall's Programming Perl. But every journey requires a first step, and the assumption that everyone interested in learning Perl has a programmer's background can make other Perl books inaccessible to the absolute beginner. Enter Perl for Dummies, a book that presumes that the reader wants to know only how to master the mechanics of Perl.

Just because it starts at the beginning--and we're talking about the very basics--doesn't mean that Perl for Dummies doesn't head into more advanced topics. Paul Hoffman explains the programming terminology and mathematical concepts that programming in Perl requires. He also moves beyond basic file manipulation, discussing pattern matching and using regular expressions. He touches on good Perl style, as well as object-oriented Perl.

He's not averse to criticizing what he perceives as Perl's shortcomings, but he also counters with a section called "10 Reasons Why Perl Is Better Than Java." Hoffman takes great pride in demystifying Perl--a goal that fits in well with Larry Wall's own philosophy of promoting Perl's accessibility. As a way into the "duct tape" programming language, Perl for Dummies fulfills its mission. --Jennifer Buckendorff

Genres: Programming, Reference, Computers, Nonfiction, Technical

413 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Reviews

[Nhi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned perl, I can now program using perl but only if I have a reference book in front of me and a problem statement to follow. The examples in this book were too basic and doing them didn't really solidify my learning of the subject which is why I need a reference when programming with PERL. I don't recommend this book for non-dummies

[RJ]

Perl for Dummies (Fourth Edition) by Paul Hoffman (2003)

[Chang]

It was a great reference!

[Delhi Irc]

Location: GG7 IRC
Accession no: DL028129

[TofurkyVectrex64 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Changed my life.