Perl: The Complete Reference

by Martin C. Brown

Updated to cover Perl 5.6, this guide covers the building blocks of Perl. It includes real-world examples and techniques, and the companion Web site includes examples from the book with sample scripts... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0072129506
• ISBN13: 9780072129502
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media
• Length: 1207 Pages
• Weight: 4.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.4" x 7.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Outstanding REFERENCE

This book is an outstanding Perl REFERENCE. It's perfect for those times when you need something done in Perl but can't recall the syntax, semantics or parameters of some construct or function, or just when looking for a way to do something. I use it daily when writing in Perl, preferring it over perldoc and half a bookshelf of other Perl books that I have access to - it's that much better. It's not a "tutorial", though, and it's not "for dummies". While you can certainly learn Perl from scratch using just this volume, I would advise against that if you're a TOTAL programming beginner. There are better "tutorial" books out there, get one of those and then get this as a reference. If you're a programmer already proficient in some other language, you won't have much of a problem switching to Perl using just this book. Pros : * it's very readable * goes into considerable detail - mind the page count! * the explanations are to the point - no useless stories or "cute" stuff * summary tables are there when they ought to be - easy on the eyes * it has a very comprehensive index - a must for a reference * it's original content - not a perldoc rehash like some other books * for each function there's an additional short summary including scalar/list context return values (love that one!). Cons : * it's... big. physically. not very convenient - but the content is well worth it! * it's slightly dated (it covers Perl 5.6) but that hardly shows as of 5.8 * the more serious problem is that of availability - you can hardly find this book in stores nowadays, no idea why. In a word, if you're shopping for a Perl reference - this is the book to get.

great information:price ratio

I actually found this book in a bookstore while looking for Programming Perl. This book has an excellent reference section, with in-depth descriptions on everything. It is very well formatted. I don't know how good it is to learn from, but if you want a quick lookup reference this book is for you. Programming Perl provides the same information, but costs about $50.

The Big Easy Perl Reference Guide

After spending about 12 hours in Borders reading Perl reference books I finally decided on this one, and I do not regret my decision. This big book is by far the most thurough and easiest to follow Perl5 reference available. I have only one gripe about this book, and that I wish the Appendix contained Index page numbers. When I look something up in the Appendix I don't want to have to go to the Index to locate a page number for that item. But it's a minor inconvenience that I'm willing to live with. Otherwise this is a great book for anyone who already has a basic grasp of Perl syntax and needs a thurough yet easy-to-follow reference guide to help in more advanced programming.

Excellent reference for the DIY type

I found this book to be an excellent reference for the type of Perl hacker who mostly figures things out for himself but still might end up trawling through the man pages alot. To be able to quickly browse to a subject that you have in black and white helps alot. I found the areas covering DBI and CGI lacking although, granted, that is not the aim of this publication. Strictly not to read from cover to cover but rather, to quickly look up a consice, detailed explanation of something.

Hacking PERL scripts? This book is for you.

If you are not a heavily experienced PERL programmer and enjoy hacking other people's scripts, this is an excellent companion. This book makes it easy to look up just about any perl syntax you can dream up and it also gives examples of how the function is called. Not very usefull if you want to look up a function and you don't know what it is called, but if you want to understand whats going on behind the perl curtain I would recommend that you get this. Besides, it will look good on your shelf. Trust me.