Rating: 
Summary: an excellent approach to a technical subject
Review: when i picked up this book i didn't know any "real" programming languages - heck, i didn't even know how to write a shell script! in two months this book gave me the knowledge to create applications and report generators for my employer, quickly earning me a promotion.
it's real easy to gain practical knowledge from this introduction to perl due to the effective layout. some of the subjects aren't covered in very much detail, but the reader is always given sources for additional (free) information.
reading some of the silly commentaries posted here; if you cannot grasp what this book hands you, perhaps you should make the move to customer support or marketing and leave programming to the cognitive specimens.
Rating: 
Summary: Great tutorial approach, examples and exercises
Review: This book was assigned for a college perl course and I found it wonderful. Its tutorial approach was very effective to learning the language quickly. It was also very funny which also helped. There are exercises at the end of every section with answers in the back, so you can check yourself to see if you're really learning.
Rating:
Summary: Why can't programmers write?
Review: The language, PERL, is hideously syntactically challenged. This book doesn't shed one ray of light on the language.
Rating:
Summary: Corrections to the Detractors
Review: Some comments about the author's "programs of such bad taste" are unfair. Randal's teaching by building a simple program into a more complex program. For clarity, he simply retains the ugly original code and tacks on new features. It's self evident that the program should be re-written, but to do so at that point in the tutorial would be disruptive. Ten is just the perfect score to accord this classic. This book delivers on what the others promise: Perl in XX Days. Thanks to this book, I learned enough perl to get by with, not in days, but in several hours. A couple weeks later, I had completed the book, and was able to read what I had thought were complex perl scripts. END
Rating:
Summary: Just Great, Perl in 250 pages or less!
Review: I think that this book is great for the experienced programmer who wants to learn perl. Hopefully the reader has some UNIX experience and some general C or C++ knowledge, which is not necessary but helps you get through the perl syntax and commands that are similiar to the above mentiond languages. In my opinion the book is a great guide clear and concise, it tought me that perl is a lot less complex than I thought.
Rating: 
Summary: educating
Review: This book is not for a beginner to programming, you may want a c/C++ background, it covers Perl, ON A UNIX SYSTEM, gives good introductions, and takes a while to read, you should spend at least 1-2 hours on each chapter. lots of working examples.
Rating:
Summary: comprehensive intro to perl
Review: this is not titled cgi-perl, so don't think only cgi is covered here! includes many short examples that are very easy to understand. good for skimming.
Rating:
Summary: Great style, examples and information
Review: This book is great. It's a very readable and informative book. The chapters are set up semi-tutorial with exercises at the end that test your knowledge. I was able to create several cgi programs after only reading the first chapter. It's also full of tips that urge you to further delve into the cool world of perl.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to understand
Review: This book is well written and provides enough examples to get you going. The language is matter-of-fact and explains the basic concepts well. I recommend this book, if you are a beginner. I've been hacking at perl for almost 2 years before I got this book. It has concepts which are still useful and practical.
Rating:
Summary: The definitive guide to learning perl
Review: If you want to learn Perl but don't want to wade through 600+ pages of the unfocused meandering you tend to find in most "Learn [insert Internet skill here]" books these days, this is the first book you should buy. (Followed by Programming Perl and The CGI/Perl Cookbook [cgi-perl.com] if you'll be doing CGI programming.) This book covers everything you need to know and does so in a concise way that won't waste your time or treat you like an idiot. It's no suprise that this is the only introductory Perl book that appears on everyone's bestseller lists.
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