Rating: 
Summary: Good but could be better
Review: I come from a Pascal background and I found this book useful with the control structures and etc. When it came to the CGI chapter the book was a disaster. The HTML output from the CGI.pm which they discuss is jumbled up and I would prefer that in future version they cover both CGI.pm and CGI-lib.pl .Cover in more detail the CGI stuff. This is a good book if you already know one programming language. Beginners beware!
Rating: 
Summary: Great book, but just one caveat
Review: So far, the book seems pretty good. It gently introduces the reader to the language. I do not have a programming background, so take that into consideration as you read this review. The caveat: A reader who can only FTP to his/her server probably will have difficulty with the exercises since many of the exercises assume the reader has the capability to telnet/access the UNIX shell. You may want to check with your ISP to make sure you can telnet to the UNIX server. Some readers may welcome the challenge of modifying the exercises to work with HTML/browser input.
Rating: 
Summary: A good start point for Perl!
Review: Before learning Perl, I have hands-on practise on other programming language. So, I found this book quit good for for Perl starter. However, if you don't have any programming knowledge, you may found it difficuties on starting point. Because this book do not contain enought examples. I think the fastest way to learn programming language is by reading program examples. Maybe the Auther wants you to buy Programming Perl.
Rating:
Summary: A start point, but only a start point
Review: It's a good book for beginners. However, it covers too little of perl, not even references and modules. On the other hand, it says more about the interactions between Perl and other stuff, e.g., files, directories, processes, CGI... which is eonderful and absent from Programming Perl. In a word, Learning Perl is a good start point for Perl programmers. But if you want to go a little further, buy a more serious one, such as Programming Perl.
Rating: 
Summary: Makes learning this bizarre language even more difficult
Review: I'm one of the people who doesn't "get" perl. I don't understand the need, the hype or the reason for the inscrutable code. True, the infamous Chapter One is bad enough, as is the lame humor and ego-driven silliness of these sample programs. But I'm skeptical enough (even of my own skepticism) to keep an open mind on these matters. What I was left wondering as I read through this is, why do we need to go through this? What is it that we can't provision with existing tools? What is beneficial about having many ways to do simple things, which only leads to more confusion? Perl code is not easy to read, easy to maintain, nor easy to learn. It all looks a like a regular expression that ate too much spaghetti. Give me a carefully structured language like C, C++ or Java any day. For Unix needs, Bash shell scripts, sed and awk are just fine. Perl is a mess, and this book doesn't make it any clearer.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible book for beginners
Review: This book is NOT for beginning programmers. We are using this book in a Summer School 6 week session and everyone at this point (week 3) : scrambling to come up with alternatives. This book: NOT ENOUGH EXAMPLES IN BOOK. ASSUMES PROGRAMMING KNOWLEDGE. We've already lost 50% of class due to dropouts from being completely confused!
Rating:
Summary: Invaluable for a beginner
Review: If you are starting the perl language you should look no further. Buy this book and read it from cover to cover. When you get to page 100, just before Miscellaneous Control Structures, go ahead and order Programming Perl and Perl Cookbook. It helps to have some programming experience but for a beginner you should be able to tackle perl with these wonderful references guiding you every step of the way. I only started perl a few weeks ago and have been overly impressed with programmer friendly operation.
Rating:
Summary: The definitive book on Perl.
Review: This book is easy to read and the topics are well organized
Rating:
Summary: A Great Starter; two tiny problems, not insurmountable
Review:
This accessible and practical book can make a Non-Programmer into a Proud CGI Guru, given that the beginner understands some basic logical structures, and is willing to meet the authors halfway. PROBLEM 1: The book assumes a fairly extensive Unix background, so doesn't always explain itself where that's concerned. SOLUTION: Just ignore the bits that don't apply to you and keep going. PROBLEM 2: The first chapter can be intimidating. SOLUTION: Understand it to be an overview: "Here's what you can do with perl." Run its programs to see how they work, experiment with them, but don't freak out if you don't understand them completely. Alternately, just skip on to Chapter 2. We enjoyed Learning Perl, and found it a good beginner's book for this language or for programming in general. The touches of humor could be annoying to some, but we thought they added readability and interest.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely a Good Value
Review: The book was thorough and detailed as are most of the O'Reilly series. However, for the perl beginner, I was confused at time by the syntax, and after re-reading some sections a few times, I was still a bit unclear on some issues. Consequently, this book was a great starting point to search other sources for assistance... usually online or other free sources. The code is presented and usually explained, but often times not completely. With the "Programming Perl" book by O'Reilly publisher, to accompany this book, learning perl would become much more easier. Alone, this book is decent.
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