Rating: 
Summary: Ok - but could be more balanced
Review: Mixed feelings about this book. Some chapters are fine - others leave a lot to be desired. Overall it is worth having as it does clear up some issues and the chapters on writing your own extensions, file management, data access and processes are very good. There are some errors and typos that would stump a novice Win32 perl programmer however. I got the impression that the author concentrated on the extensions he developed very well but only gave the the other (more useful?) extensions a decent explanation if he was interested in them. The book starts off well detailing error handling and system administration for Perl on the Win32 platform. It started to dissapoint here as, in places, much more detail is included on the authors own web pages. There is a lot of detail on the more esetoric details of Win32 Perl such as Com & OLE, consoles and sound. This stuff is interesting but not as important as the more common and useful extensions dealing in, say, system administration. The author (not surprisingly!) treats the extensions he has written himself in most detail - ODBC in particular. This is fine but glaring omissions are even here. For example the chapter on communication mentions the win32::pipe and win32::message extentions but nowhere does it explain that these are additional extentions that need to be downloaded and installed first (in most cases at least). I know from first hand experience that this would fox a newcomer to Win32 Perl builds.
Rating: 
Summary: Must have for NT Perl Users
Review: There are tons of bits and pieces of this information on the web and in .htm help files, but this book brings it together nicely.
Rating: 
Summary: A most valuable resource
Review: This book does one thing and does it well: It documents and thoroughly explains the Win32 API available in Perl 5.005. Anyone contemplating using Perl for administrative tasks in the Windows environment would do well to add a copy of this book to his or her Perl bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: This is the rest of the story
Review: This book has cleared up a lot of mysteries about Win32 specific topics. Made using Win32 extensions easy. Great examples. Just be aware that this cannot be your only PERL book on the shelf. This is about interfacing with the Win32 platform, not really about how to program in PERL. You'll also need a more general PERL programming book such as "PERL by Example", if you're just starting out. I've got both and am constantly bouncing between them.
Rating:
Summary: This is the rest of the story
Review: This book has cleared up a lot of mysteries about Win32 specific topics. Made using Win32 extensions easy. Great examples. Just be aware that this cannot be your only PERL book on the shelf. This is about interfacing with the Win32 platform, not really about how to program in PERL. You'll also need a more general PERL programming book such as "PERL by Example", if you're just starting out. I've got both and am constantly bouncing between them.
Rating:
Summary: Fills A Big Hole In The Perl Win32 Documentation
Review: This book is a must for any NT administrator. It gives you loads of practical information that can make you life easier.
Rating:
Summary: Great job on a long-neglected topic
Review: This book is excellent. It is a thorough and detailed look at the Win32 extensions to Perl. It will be useful to all Perl programmers in the Windows 9x/NT environment.
Rating:
Summary: Good discussions on Perl and NT issues.
Review: Well written discussions on Perl and NT issues. Some topics were missing like MAPI and TAPI, but overall well written. I recommend it for anyone using Perl and NT.
Rating:
Summary: A Necessary Addition to the Win32 Bookshelf
Review: While other readers point out some errors in the book, I base my 5 star rating on this simple fact-- If you are programming Perl on Win32, you need this book. You will find information in this book that does not exist anywhere else. After reading this book, you will find yourself using Perl to do things on your NT box you wouldn't have considered possible with a scripting language. Mr. Roth provides many code samples, and sufficient background in the text. The information on ODBC, Pipes, and Sockets is worth the price of admission alone. While not without flaws, an invaluable resource for the serious Win32 Perl programmer.
Rating:
Summary: A Necessary Addition to the Win32 Bookshelf
Review: While other readers point out some errors in the book, I base my 5 star rating on this simple fact-- If you are programming Perl on Win32, you need this book. You will find information in this book that does not exist anywhere else. After reading this book, you will find yourself using Perl to do things on your NT box you wouldn't have considered possible with a scripting language. Mr. Roth provides many code samples, and sufficient background in the text. The information on ODBC, Pipes, and Sockets is worth the price of admission alone. While not without flaws, an invaluable resource for the serious Win32 Perl programmer.
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