Mastering Perl
February 6th, 2010 by CGI & PHP.com
Product Description
This is the third in O'Reilly's series of landmark Perl tutorials, which started with Learning Perl, the bestselling introduction that taught you the basics of Perl syntax, and Intermediate Perl, which taught you how to create re-usable Perl software. Mastering Perl pulls everything together to show you how to bend Perl to your will. It convey's Perl's special models and programming idioms.
This book isn't a collection of clever tricks, but a way of thinki… More >>
Popularity: 3% [?]
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February 6th, 2010 at 9:52 am
It was in much better condition that I thought. Never know what to expect, but hey it's worth a chance for a great price. I was surprise to see it was in excellent condition, since it was rated as "very good" condition. It looks like a new book to me. That's why I keep buying "used" books from Amazon.
Rating: 5 / 5
February 6th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
This should not be called "Mastering Perl" but rather, "A Bunch Of Perl Stuff We Didn't Know What To Do With So We Put Them In This Book." You will find some interesting things but this book will not help you Master Perl. If you are looking for mastery try "Perl Best Practices",
"Advanced Perl" (1st and 2nd Ed) and "Higher Order Perl."
This book has interesting pieces that you will learn from but it is mis-titled.
Rating: 3 / 5
February 6th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
This book is not essential, if you already have several years of experience with Perl, if you know who are Damian Conway, Randal Schwartz and Abigail, and if you know the meaning of weird words like CPAN, Perl Monks and "zero-width positive look-ahead assertion".
If you don't know what these things are, then with a little motivation you can find everything about them using Google without the need for this book. If this would be any other book about programming, i'd give it no more than 3 stars.
However, brian d foy's first-person writing style is very readable and enjoyable, which awards this book an extra star, and does make this book a good buy for people who learned the basics from Learning Perl or Programming Perl. Furthermore, as great and relevant as The Camel Book is, its last edition was published in 2000, and it is already a little dated, in terms of both the technology and the culture of Perl, so Mastering Perl is a pretty good way to get up-to-date.
To sum up – while this book is not as essential as Programming Perl, Perl Cookbook or Perl Best Practices, it is certainly up to the high standards set by those O'Reilly titles.
Rating: 4 / 5
February 6th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
'Mastering Perl' is another gem in the line of O'Reilly Perl books that hav continued to set the standard for over a decade now. From the original Perl references that simply discussed the language from the basics of variable declaration to the most complicated ways you can use Perl, O'Reilly has continued to add more and more and more. Many new revisions and editions to the original Perl books were made, 'Learning Perl' was released and now 'Mastering Perl'. Is this too many books, is this simply a cash cow from O'Reilly? Yes and NO. Obviously publishers are here to try and make money, but this isn't a book that was just released for the sake of releasing it. I feel that 'Mastering Perl' is a fine addition to this line of books and well worth picking up for all serious Perl programmers. I feel that any book which builds on your programming skills and you can get something new from is worth the time and effort to read and learn from. This book is a welcome edition and I still feel that the Perl line of books (O'Reilly's original bread and butter) is the best the company has and it's a solid effort. If you want to go beyond the basics and sponge out even more goodies from this great language, pick this 300+ page book up today, kick back and become the best Perl developer that you can!!
***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Rating: 5 / 5
February 6th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
MASTERING PERL is third in O'Reilly's series of Perl tutorials and is a top pick for collections strong in computer programming in general and Perl in particular. This is more than a collection of shortcuts and 'tricks': it covers the basics of using advanced expressions, avoiding common programming problems, fixing code without editing the original source, and more, and offers Perl users the tools for getting the most out of the software – and troubleshooting when it doesn't work right. An excellent survey and a top pick for any Perl reference collection.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Rating: 5 / 5