Reviews for PERL 5 Developers Guide

1. Great for C Programmers - like me!

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, May 12nd, 2001

   A four-day advanced Perl & Perl/Tk course in London costs £2000 where this book was £40 - including CD from which I installed Perl and Perl/Tk on my Wintel box.

   Wanting to learn Perl I grabbed the first book I found at the local bookshop, yet I can't imagine how the choice could have been more fortuitious.

   If you're put off by the comments in other reviews about the index, bear in mind there's an HTML copy of the book (so useful!) on the CD as well as an enhanced index.

   This book covers Perl syntax (1st half) Objects (2nd half) and practice/debugging (1/3rd half - how's that for value?). As a C programmer I was virtually able to read it straight through - the highest tribute I could make both to Perl (it just makes sense!) and to this book.

   Little things like the CGI options checker script, the Calendar Tk App (filling the one hole, I think, in windows) and the nod to a well-known book on algorithms made me have to acknowledge this book's breadth. And it is likable too. You don't feel the author is ever talking down to you, yet the sheer scope of info makes this book entirely valid as a bible - alongside even Programming Perl.

   And no, I don't know the author. This is actually genuine. I haven't seen it recommended in the newsgroups and I thought it deserved better!

2. Very good book

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, August 12th, 1999

   This book has great examples and I liked the sequence it was written in, there are a few typos but nothing the reader can't figure out, also some of the code is not explained sufficiently, overall the best Perl book I've found.

   peter.rios@mciworld.com

3. Some good material masked by many errors

   Rated 2 out of 5 stars, August 12th, 1999

   After reading snippets of this book from time to time, and being frustrated and amazed at how many errors in how many code snippets could get through the editors, I finally turned to this website to see if others had observed the same problem. The first couple of reviewers hit the nail on the head. The index is a joke. The multitudinous typos in the code have me going to my machine just to check my understanding. It's become difficult to believe or trust anything in this book, but like one other reviewer said "Maybe that's a good thing." The book could be used for a contest - see how many errors are possible when the editors don't give a damn. Shame on you McGraw Hill for allowing this book to hit the shelves - you should do a mass recall - send in the front cover and get a corrected edition. It seems that the authors at times really know their stuff, and could teach a lot, but this is all foiled in error, after error, after error. I just got done reading a two page spread that had five code snippets - I believe three of these had serious printout errors. (I haven't confirmed this yet, but I'm getting tired of incorrect code.) Fire the editors, or whomever rushed this book to print, just to get shelf space - what a sad statement on American publishing - get that shelf space - I think that person should get out of publishing and go to work for Coca-Cola or Pepsi and let the book world alone. Terrible business practice. The other reviewers who give this a five star review are probably friends of the authors - sorry, guys, but this book with this edition should be trashed - it reminds me of the poor quality that TAB books used to put out - BTW, weren't they purchased by McGraw-Hill a number of years ago - could the same marketeers still be there - RECALL THIS BOOK MCGRAW HILL IF YOU HAVE ANY DECENCY - CONGRESS WOULD FORCE YOU TOO IF YOU WERE MANUFACTURING CARS!

4. Generally a really good Perl book but ...

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, July 12th, 1999

   EDITORS WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!! I think that the editors of this book should find another job - this book is full of typos and errors.

   Other than that this would be a great book (probably five stars if it had a better index).

   Anyway the material, the pace, and the writing style are all to my liking. Probably not great if you haven't already had some programming experience.

   I hope the next edition fixes the pile o' errors.

5. Ditto

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, June 12th, 1999

   Echo the same comments: + good raw material. Coverage on OO is very good, not just for Perl programmers but anyone interested in OO. One of the better intro to OO I've seen. - Yes, Index section sucks (editors are falling asleep on their jobs) - Yes, lots of errors (editors are falling...)

   Just by focusing on fixing the two minuses will make the next edition one of the better Perl books.

   Also, next to nothing in terms of coverage of OS interaction, networking, etc. Granted the book is pretty thick as it is, but calling it a "complete" reference is a bit of a stretch, IMO.