Perl 5 Desktop Reference (A Nutshell Handbook)

Rating:
Summary: The book to have close at hand when learning perl
Review: This quick reference guide to Perl 5.000 was always close at hand when I was learing Perl. It provided just enough detail to remind me of the sticky points of syntax and usage while being lean enough to find items fast. It is a truly useful companion to both the Camel book (Programming Perl, 2nd edition) and the Llama book (Learning Perl).

These days I don't use it as much, mainly because my knowledge of Perl has grown to the point where I have fewer questions of usage, but also because I have the CD-Rom edition of O'reilly's "Webmaster in a Nutshell" which contains a full text version of "Programming Perl". I can now look things up electronically in about the same time I could on paper.

Perl's quirky syntax and the attitude built into the language of there's always more than one way to do it, makes having multiple reference sources a requirement, if only to find the Perl guru who thinks like you do. Vromans uses a clean, straightforward style which is a refreshing change from the sometimes too humorous style of Larry Wall and Randal Schwartz.