I have to agree with the earlier poster, who said most everything can be found in perldoc (and 'man perl***').
I have an early copy of the camel, but I _never_ use it. The main reason is that I feel the text rambles. I must admit reading it is entertaining, but barely what I would want to use as a reference.
Also, why use a printed book as a reference when the electronic documentation is updated along with the perl version? The book is destined to become hopelessly out of date, while perldoc/man perl*** is almost always current.
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My beef is exactly this: I only have electronic documentation. Information is up to date, certainly, but reading long passages of text from the screen is uncomfortable. Call me old-fashioned, but a book is a book.
Thank you everyone for opinions. I will visit the library (although they likely do not have a copy) or a bookstore and read a few pages before buying, though, simply to ascertain the quality.
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Real books are definitely better than ebooks.
Despite the deficiecies of ebooks, the CD bookshelf is nice. You get a paper version of Perl in a Nutshell, in addition to the ebooks. The search features of the ebooks are handy for looking up something short. IME, On-screen reading is fine for light browsing of a text. However, longer material is unpleasant to read on screen.
When the CDBS was my primary resource, if I wanted to read a longer selection, I would just print out the sections as I needed them (duplexed, 2 "pages" to a side to save paper) and throw them in a binder. After a while it became obvious which books I was printing lots of, so I bought "real" copies of those books.
I found the CDBS to be a cost effective way to get my hands on a variety of good perl books, before I had time to build my library. YMMV
Don't forget to check used book stores, you might be able to find some real bargains.
Good luck building your library.
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Check out good computer stores. We have a local Micro Center that has many older editions for $2 to $5 in a clearance section. I have bought many books that way because I never know what I'll need in the future for reference.
Another good source are places like half.com to buy used and new books at a discount.
Update: Removed reference to illegal website. Sorry.
-Eugene
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