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Summary: Perl Black Book
Review: After having used PERL for a few years I found the old books on my shelf were lacking in some information I wanted. I was spotted looking at this book one day and received it as a gift. I am delighted to add this to my shelf, and only wish I had bought it myself so I could have had it earlier.Please understand that there are planty of great PERL books out there (O'Reilly comes to mind), but this book encompasses with one book what it would take to get from 4 or 5 other books. I consider this book a MUST BUY for anyone wanting to learn PERL for whatever reason. This book rekindled my interest in PERL and I find myself using PERL more than before.
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Summary: Among the best...
Review: An excellent PERL book to own. Great reference material. Highly recommended to others esp readers who have surficial knowledge of PERL.
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Summary: A good quick-reference as well as having sufficient depth
Review: As an electrical engineer with a reasonable programming background, I needed a book that would allow me to come up to speed in Perl quickly without having to first plough through endless tutorials or mindless banter that those 'Dummies' books (or similar) offer. The Black Book meets this need using a unique format -- 'quick solutions' to common programming problems, like data storage, flow control, formatting, etc, ordered in a well indexed and logically laid out volume. I found this format facilitated the learning of the language rapidly while I was developing my first Perl applications. The Black Book's only negative aspect is the author's annoying little 'stories' at the beginning of each section involving the reader and fictional characters like the 'Big Boss' and the 'Novice Programmer'. These stories don't suit the otherwise excellent format of the book and only distract. Ignore the first paragraph of each section that contains them and the Perl Black Book is a handy reference you'll certainly keep near your computer.
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Summary: Good, but...
Review: As with most technical books I have encountered, this book uses information before explaining it. It will have example code representing simple ideas that can't be understood without understanding more advanced topics (which are covered in later chapters). The information you are looking for is probably somewhere in this book, but you will have to work for it. Why do these type of book's start out great with the first few chapters and all of a sudden assume you know material from the last chapters? It might seem as though I don't like this book, but it is still better than most.
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Summary: The one Perl book you HAVE to own
Review: Everyone else has pretty much summed up the pluses of this book. I'd just like to add that when it has come to very specific questions and problems I've had with a Perl script (like interprocess communication), the only book that has always answered my questions is the Perl Black Book. You'll be amazed at the topics covered and at the depths they are covered. Well worth having on your bookshelf, however you won't fit this beast in your backpocket. It's huge.
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Summary: just about everything you need...
Review: Having worked on a webpage and HTML for years I decided that perhaps I should get into CGI programming. At the time I was a CS major in college with a C++ background. I didn't know much of anything about perl other than it is a very cryptic language. Eventually I ended up with this book, which has a bit of cgi info. I wouldn't recommend this book unless you have some programming background (and if you want to learn Perl as your first programming language you should SERIOUSLY re-think that). I found things sort of hard to pick up at first, but much of that is due to Perl itself. As I got better and better with perl I found the book more and more useful. Months later I use it ALL the time. The book has enough humor in it to keep you from getting bored to death, while getting to the point rather fast with a decent explanation. Many of the examples were very good, and useful not only for CGI, but for making other utility scripts as well. And yes as some people pointed out, there are some errors in the book... <STDIN> with no semicolon after it? hmmm... Still I would actually have to say this is one of the best programming books I have ever read. Not for a total novice programmer (who shouldn't learn Perl first anyway), but it's a good book that you won't outgrow very fast - for both learning new parts of the language, and as a reference.
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Summary: Excellent Reference Book
Review: I am an long-time programmer but new to Perl. I don't really need to re-read general programming concepts. What I am looking for is concrete examples of how to do things specifically in Perl. Of the four Perl books I own I believe that PBB best mets my needs. Each chapter starts with an "In Depth" section that explains the topic. These are well written but not usually necessary for my needs. The second part of each chapter is titled "Immediate Solutions". This is were I spend almost all of my time. In the past month I have put dozens of these solutions in my own code. They are well documented, concise, and to the point. These examples have paid for the book many times over. I would consider this book a "must have".
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reference Book
Review: I am an long-time programmer but new to Perl. I don't really need to re-read general programming concepts. What I am looking for is concrete examples of how to do things specifically in Perl. Of the four Perl books I own I believe that PBB best mets my needs. Each chapter starts with an "In Depth" section that explains the topic. These are well written but not usually necessary for my needs. The second part of each chapter is titled "Immediate Solutions". This is were I spend almost all of my time. In the past month I have put dozens of these solutions in my own code. They are well documented, concise, and to the point. These examples have paid for the book many times over. I would consider this book a "must have".
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Summary: Great Book, Bad Packaging
Review: I bought this book maybe 6 months ago, and I've used it nearly every day. It stays on my desk within arm's reach should I need to look something up quickly. The index is an indispensible tool for a book as large as this one (1200 some-odd pages), and the pages have seen a lot of use. Concepts are fairly clearly and adequately explained, although sometimes the author leaves a few things up to your imagination, so some things require "tweaking" to work the way you want them to. However, the vast amount of perl knowledge contained in this book more than makes up for this. Look in the index and find two, three, or ten pages where a concept is mentioned, and you're sure to find some expample that closely fits your needs. The only exception was a very small amount of information on installing packages (ie: ppm) that was absolutely no help at all, I had to ask a co-worker for help. My two complaints with this book lay mainly with the material it's made from and the way it has been bound. The binding on my book fell apart after only one month. The cover seperated from the rest of the book, and now I'm left struggling to keep the cover on to protect the pages. The pages themselves are frail and thin, like bible pages, which tear and wrinkle easily. Not a very well-made book, if you ask me.
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Summary: This book delivers
Review: I have been fooling with Perl on and off for about 2 years. This was the first Perl book I bought and it is still the first that I grab when I need an answer.
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