Re: Beginning Programming with Perl

[davorg]

There are two books that I'd recommend for teaching Perl to people with no programming experience. They are Elements of Programming with Perl and Perl for Web Site Management. You've already said that the first of those doesn't meet your requirements as it doesn't teach enough programming theory - the second teaches even less (it's more of a "getting things done book"). The best book for teaching Perl in a more formal "computer science" manner is probably Perl: The Programmer's Companion - tho' I seem to remember that it expected the reader to have at least some prior programming experience.

--
<http://www.dave.org.uk>

"The first rule of Perl club is you do not talk about Perl club."
-- Chip Salzenberg

[blakem]

From the preface of Perl: The Programmer's Companion:

The aim of this book is to introduce programmers to Perl, and Perl to programmers.
...
[This book] is not a tutorial on computer programming. It is a book aimed at people who already know something -- possibly quite a lot -- about programming, and at least a little about computer science.

He goes on to describe himself as a computer scientist, which he claims isn't always an compliment in the perl world.

So, I think you're right on both accounts. Its not meant for newbies, and it takes a more formal approach than most other perl books.

-Blake