Re: Re: Sub-initiate needs help getting started

[jdporter]

Get yourself a copy of Perl in 21 days.

Ugh. Terrible advice. Of all the Perl books out there, this is one to avoid.

For better advice on how to choose a Perl book:

• Choosing a Perl Book, by Simon Cozens (perl.com)
• Perl Books, by Uri Guttman (perl.com)
• Camel Critiques, by Tom Christiansen (perl.com)

Of course, one should check out our own Book Reviews, but I tend to take these with a grain of salt.

I personally would recommend the following excellent on-line Perl books:

• Picking Up Perl by Bradley Kuhn
• Beginning Perl by Simon Cozens

As Simon said,

You can't learn Perl in 24 hours, 21 days, 12 weeks, 9 months, or a year. I've been programming Perl for nearly five years and I'm still learning.

Same here.

jdporter
The 6th Rule of Perl Club is -- There is no Rule #6.

[bart]

The book that seems most appropriate in this particular case, is Perl Debugged. It's aimed at beginners, discusses ways to avoid and eliminate bugs, and gets quite favourable reviews. (Amazon, Perl Books)

There's also a title Debugging Perl.

[Popcorn Dave]

I don't think you can ever learn Perl, but you can get more proficient the more you do. That said, the reason I did suggest the 21 day book is I know a couple of people it did well for. Personally I learned via the camel, but it was the textbook for the class that I took.

And yes there are a bunch of lousy Perl books out there, the Dummies Guide being one of the worst IMHO. However, I still think that for the person with little or no programming experience, O'Reilly tends to be a bit heavy.

Just my opinion.

There is no emoticon for what I'm feeling now.

[jdporter]

But unfortunately, people who don't already know Perl aren't qualified to critique a Perl book. I.e. you may think you learned well, even though you may have learned crap. "Perl in 21 Days" might teach well, but if the Perl it teaches is crappy, then it's a crappy Perl book. And that is exactly what I understand to be the case.

jdporter
The 6th Rule of Perl Club is -- There is no Rule #6.