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Summary: This is an outstanding addition to Learning Perl
Review: While this book will not teach you the basics of programming perl, it is an excellent resource for those wanting to learn to how to do practical things with perl. The book is very well written and is broken into nice bitesize sections that each deal with a specific programming topic. Each section is full of golden nuggets for the novice or intermediate programmer. Highly recommended
Rating:
Summary: perfect companion for producing fast, quality solutions
Review: Soon after I bought this book, it's been on my desk anytime I'm writing Perl code. It provides a fast way of getting straight to the code samples perfectly suitable for most tasks one might need to incorporate in Perl script. That much you could expect from a "cookbook". What makes this book brilliant is that it supports the idea of "learn as you go", the very reason many programmers turned to Perl. You don't need to know every feature of the language in order to produce powerful Perl programs. What you need in most cases is in-depth knowledge of the area you're focusing on. That's exactly where "Perl Cookbook" saves the day! Well organized set of solutions each followed with comprehensive analysis I enjoyed reading and greatly benefited from.
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Summary: What a resource!
Review: Of the large stack of Perl books I've purchased this year, this one seems to get pulled down more than most of the others combined. Whenever I need to do something new in Perl, I always look at the Cookbook for hints, and always a gem of knowledge can be found there. I can now let the "Real Perl Programs" chapter of my worn copy of the old Camel book finally rest in peace. Kudos to Tom and Nathan for such a great resource!
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Summary: Perfect companion to Programming Perl and Advanced Perl Prog
Review: After dog-earring (sic) the pages of the first edition of Programming Perl (the Camel book), I quickly glommed on to the second edition, thinking that they'll have even more informed narrative and great examples. The enhanced narrative WAS worth purchase of the second edition, but, as mentioned in the Amazon.com review, the "Command Tasks with Perl" and "Real Perl Programs" chapters had been dropped... it's been the closest I've ever come to letter-bombing a book publisher. Little did we know that there was a cunning plan by the Perl wizards and O'Reilly to produce The Perl Cookbook. While in this world of instant communication some say that two years was a long time to wait for the Cookbook, the wait was definitely worth it. The Cookbook is a treasure trove of examples, and should be considered a mandatory companion to Programming Perl AND Advanced Perl Programming on the bookshelf of intermediate and advanced perl programmers. The Cookbook is also a great place for the novice to feed after cutting their teeth on Learning Perl. Each section is a mini-tutorial with nice examples to enter and ponder. Combined with the Camel book as general background and reference, you'll go a long way in finding quick solutions to common problems. I'm not sure what was the problem of one reviewer regarding typographical errors. I've been using the first edition of the Cookbook, and have not encountered any serious difficulties. It seems that any typographical errors (and I haven't seen any, but then I haven't been looking) would have at worst lost one star in rating the Cookbook. Benefits of the Cookbook seem to far outweigh the nits on which this reviewer has focused. I do agree with the reviewer's final note: buy copies from the second and third printings, as I'm sure the first edition has already sold out! (... and some perl book geek will view this as an opportunity to collect a "first edition.") It's not often I'm moved to write an online review. The Perl Cookbook is a superb reference for any serious perl programmer and especially for the novice and intermediate wanting to improve their skills. Buy this book! Bon appetit!
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Summary: Great book,but u should read a book like Learning Perl first
Review: The Perl Cookbook is great. It has lots of info. Even though I have been programming a long time I didn't understand everything right away. If u have read other books on perl before and u understand the basics of perl u should DEFINITELY buy this book.
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Summary: Indispensible for anyone who writes Perl
Review: Not only is this book great, but I wish it had come out sooner. If I'd had this in hand years ago, I'd have saved myself literally years of effort, both as far as just getting things done, but also in learning general Perl skills. You can have any other Perl book on the market, but you're not getting the whole story until you get this one too. This, more than any other one Perl book, is something that can stay with you from the time you're just starting to learn Perl, to when you're an expert at it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource, a "MUST" buy
Review: If you are a serious Perl programmer or if you are interested in becomming one, this book is a must-have addition to your library. I use this book at least daily and often more frequently. It is an excellent reference work and a great tutorial on Perl. If you want to write Perl programs BUY THIS BOOK!
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Summary: A true gold mine
Review: Some people consider me to be some kind of wizard with perl. But whenever I see something from Tom, I start to doubt it. This book comes as no surprise to me as it is an example of what I have come to expect from Tom, although I am sure that Nat also put a lot into this book. The book is full of useful information. Each chapter contains several problems all centered around a single topic. Each problem is first discussed, and the a solution is shown Perl is a very different language to most and at times requires programmer to think differently to become a good perl programmer. Because if the structure of this book, with discussions and solutions, it shows those areas where you need to think differently. This is something that is not really shown in any other perl book I have read. This book contains over 700 pages, which some may say is too many, but I would disagree. Every page in this book is worth reading and due to the size of the book, the topics covered are just about everthing you would want to do with perl, and probably more. Every book has problems in its first printing and this book is no exception. But an errata is avaliable and I am sure the 2nd printing will have many things fixed. Imperfections aside the content of this book is excellent and will be of invaluable use to newcommers and seaoned veterans. This book is a must for any serious perl programmer.
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Summary: This is the Perl programmer's Perl programming book
Review: Don't bother trying to figure how to do something with Perl. Tom has already figured it out and included it in this book. It is a treasure trove of useful scripts. Some are ready to be used as is. The Chapter on Internet Services covers some high level concepts, like fetching POP3 mail, writing a TCP proxy, being an FTP client and so on. This book isn't really meant to be read from cover to cover. Just pick a subject that interests you and learn!
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Summary: Without a doubt the most useful Perl book in my library
Review: Tom and Nat's Perl Cookbook is without a doubt the most useful Perl book in my library. It provides examples and explainations on a wide range of topics from simple tasks such as template interpolation to database connectivity and user interfaces. PCB does a wonderful job of introducing a number of concepts in applications that are useful in day to day programming while keeping the learning curve well under control. It is useful to all Perl programmers, beginning and advanced. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to broaden their knowledge of the Perl programming language without dedicating themselves to a topic for days on end.
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