Rating: 
Summary: great portable reference guide
Review: handy little reference guide for perl programmers -- pocket sized, if you have wide pockets.
Rating: 
Summary: Only benefit is portability..
Review: I have yet to find any of the O'Reily reference books to be useful. They are poorly organized, and it's REALLY hard to find answers to quick questions. I LOVE almost all of the reference companion books. I'd say that you should save the dough on this reference and just buy another copy of the "Perl 5" camel book unless you're desperate for a more portable size.
Rating: 
Summary: Not one of their best Pocket References
Review: Maybe there is too much to Perl to squeeze into one tiny guide? Maybe Perl can't be organized like that? For whatever reason, I find Learning Perl (another great O'Reilly book) to be the perfect "Pocket" reference, even though it's a standard book. This Pocket reference is too small to be of any real use, unlike many of their other Pocket references.
Rating:
Summary: Not one of their best Pocket References
Review: Maybe there is too much to Perl to squeeze into one tiny guide? Maybe Perl can't be organized like that? For whatever reason, I find Learning Perl (another great O'Reilly book) to be the perfect "Pocket" reference, even though it's a standard book. This Pocket reference is too small to be of any real use, unlike many of their other Pocket references.
Rating:
Summary: Could be much better
Review: The Perl 5 pocket reference is a nice handy little tool if you are willing to search for things. Unfortunately, the book does not come with such things as an index - a must in reference books.The book is organized by category - not alphabetically, therefore making it harder to find the information in question. If the book included a few examples, an index, and perhaps a different organization scheme, it would be a much better book. Unfortunately it isn't, therefore sending me elsewhere for reference.
Rating:
Summary: A mnemonic device, nothing more
Review: This book is little more than a list of perl methods to help jog your memory. If you're fluent in perl but sometimes need to remember the name of a method, this book can help you. But you'd better be able to remember the proper syntax on your own, since the book doesn't include it (granted, perl is fluid enough to make that an easy guess too). If you want a language reference, this book isn't it. It's like carrying a set of flash cards. If you don't know it to begin with, this book won't help you learn it. Even as a reference I found it lacking.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but incomplete reference
Review: This book provides a useful reference to the most often used constructs in Perl programs, as well as command-line options to perl, the Perl compiler, and the Perl debugger. There are some notable topics missing, for example, the perldoc and perlbug commands. Additionally, there is vital information missing, for example, that "last" and "next" do not work in do {} while blocks, and what will happen if you leave off the optional "len" parameter of the substr function. The book could also use a section of tips that suggests the use of "use strict" and the -w option to help debug programs, explains how to search the FAQs with perldoc, and gives guidelines for posting to the Perl newsgroups. What this book is missing most is an index. If you want to look up a function but you don't know what it does, you have to revert to flipping through the pages. Because of these omissions, this book is best for the programmer who is already adept at Perl and has other Perl references. Update: This review is for the second edition of the book, which did not include an index and other important topics. If you want my opinion on the third edition, look for the review by schapel.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect Companion
Review: This is just what I needed - a quick reminder to refresh my memory occasionally without referring to the other perl books or docs. It's small and inexpensive -I keep one at home and one at the office. This book is great for jogging your memory to remind you of use and syntax but it should not be relied on as a true "reference". If you have the Camel and the Llama book this is a perfect addition.
Rating:
Summary: Too pint-sized to be useful
Review: This reference is perhaps too brief. I find myself skipping it and going straight for Programming Perl. If I need to quickly look up the usage of a function, the Unix man pages are far more useful -- and faster.
Rating:
Summary: It could have been perfect....
Review: Why such a small book wastes 2 pages on a useless forward by Larry Wall is beyond me. Larry should stick to writing code.
| 
