Rating: 
Summary: A must-have for Perl programmers
Review: The definitive Perl book, it should be on the shelf of all Perl programmers. It is an excellent reference to the Perl language. My only complaint is that I felt like I was getting bogged down in picky language details. This is a refernce, though, and as such is exhaustive and excellent. Get another book for learning the language, though
Rating: 
Summary: Fine book, but with some major flaws
Review: It's a fine book. Obviously the one to get if you're serious about Perl.
I have two complaints about it:
1. It's overproduced, with too many footnotes. This style of writing is all too common in computer books, and one that makes them very hard to read. Nearly all of the footnotes in this book should either be in the main text, because they are relevant, or omitted because they are irrelevant and just clutter up the discourse.
2. The index is terrible. Many keywords and other important Perl concepts aren't indexed at all. For one who doesn't have the language memorized, this is very inconvenient.
But, even with these irritating flaws, the book is extremely valuable, and I couldn't imagine using Perl without it.
Rating:
Summary: The best for Learning *or* Reference
Review: Very few people can claim to have written both the most important programming tool to come along in years as well as the best book about it. Larry Wall, aided by the perl world's most skillful programmers as collaborators, has done just that.
It's a great way to learn the language, the best reference available, and a unique manifesto on programming from Wall, one of real-world programmings most practical thinkers.
Stop reading this review and start reading this book
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reference, much improved version
Review: Comprehensive and detailed PERL handbook. Examples are used to clarify and explain and the many sections cover function references and language details. I have the previous version, which was terse and rather obscure. This version is a brilliant example of how handbooks should be written. It is useful at all levels of Perl expertise, from novice to expert programmer. A must have for anyone thinking of using PERL either for system tasks or Web site support. A winner
Rating:
Summary: THE book if you ever want to be a serious Perl freak
Review: If anything I'm glad O'Reilly published this revised edition of Programming Perl, because my first version was just in horrible shape. I don't think it would have made it another week. Too many long nights, spilled soda and moments of rage and frustration, take its toll on a book. So, I retired the first version and began to break in the new version. This new version covers Perl 5 (not Perl5) in a way that actually makes a dummy like me understand. Not only is this book good reading, but is also by far the most useful Perl reference (in particular the chapter covering Perl's various functions). This book really shows you that Perl isn't just some nice little language that makes cute little guestbooks for the homepage, but is a full featured, powerful development language strong enough to take on the most demanding Unix environment (and have enough room left over to conquer any Windows NT server). This is a must read for anyone remotely interested in Perl programming
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, by the author of PERL himself.
Review: How can you not give this book a 10. I, like others below, hadto learn PERL very quickly, and found this book to be terrific. Itis not a huge book, yet it has both a detailed reference section and a tutorial/usage/optimization section. Do not buy other PERL books until you buy this one. It is by no means the only book that is useful, but it should be the first you one read.
Rating:
Summary: A definite must have for the Perl Programmer
Review: First my man pages for perl got dirty and abused, then I started living with my Version 1 of the Programming Perl, now I'm making this version my new best friend. It's a great reference and that is exactly what I want, something to the point, not a how to learn perl in 5 days type thing, and the only book I would have bothered to buy for Perl5
Rating:
Summary: An invaluable resource
Review: For my new job, I need to learn Perl quickly. I had been
borrowing my roommate's copy, but finally realized I needed
one of my own. It's been an invaluable resource so far in my
excursions into Perl, and I'm sure I'll still need to reference it several years down the line, when I'm more proficent in Perl.
Rating:
Summary: The only mandatory Perl book. Great read, too.
Review: Perl 5 is much more powerful than 4. If you currently use 4 this book will show you many reasons to upgrade.
The book is incredibly well written and quite a bit of fun.
If you are not a professional programmer AND don't know C AND don't know Perl then also buy "Learning Perl" or a similar book.
Otherwise you don't need any other Perl book.
I read it from cover to cover (except for lists of functions etc.). I learnt a lot more about Perl and, incidentally, Computer Science. When you use the book, keep checking the glossary for all the new terms introduced. That makes it a lot easier.
Rating:
Summary: The definitive reference guide to Perl
Review: In a nutshell (pun fully intended), this is the one book
that EVERY Perl programmer should own. Also known as the
"Camel" book (for reasons that will become apparent as soon
as you see the cover), Programming Perl contains everything
you need to know about the language. This second edition
expands the scope of the first edition to include the additional functionality of Perl 5 and also adds some
welcome features of its own, including a much more detailed
index and an extremely useful glossary section. My copy of
the first edition is dog-eared and dirty from constant access. I doubt it will be long before my copy of this
edition looks the same.
| 
