Macperl: Power and Ease [Paperback]

Vicki Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1998

This book contains everything you need to learn how to use MacPerl; with foreword by Matthias Neeracher, the author of MacPerl.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Vicki Brown ([e-mail]) has been using Unix (and variants thereof) for nearly 15 years; she began programming in awk and sh almost from the beginning. Vicki has also been working with Macs for 11 years, both in the employ of Apple Computer, and in her personal life. The Mac OS is her second favorite operating system and favorite user interface.

Vicki started using MacPerl in 1995, when she needed to crunch a large quantity of spreadsheet data. Resisting the idea of learning Excel macros, she leaped into MacPerl. She soon discovered that Perl allowed her to perform almost any programming task on the (shell-less, awk-less) Macintosh. Vicki lives in San Bruno, California with her spouse, Rich Morin, several cats, and many computers, including multiple Macintoshes.

Chris Nandor ([e-mail]) is the webmaster and head web developer for Peterson's, an educational publishing company in Princeton, NJ. A 1995 Journalism graduate of Biola University, Chris now telecommutes full-time from his home in Carver, MA.

Chris has been working with Macs for 10 years and MacPerl for two years. He has spent much of his time over the last year working with MacPerl and Apple Events and has written an article on the subject for The Perl Journal (December, 1997) and was invited to speak at the second annual Perl Conference (August, 1998).

Product Details

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: Prime Time Freeware (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881957322
• ISBN-13: 978-1881957324
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,227,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It needs work, July 27, 2000

By 

"[e-mail]" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macperl: Power and Ease (Paperback)

I'm glad this book was written because I love the Mac OS and want to see Perl developed on it. However, this book is not easy to use. It's clear that the authors do know what they're talking about, but they're not great at conveying lessons to the reader. Some script examples can be confusing to walk through when the authors say stuff like "Let's add this line to the script we've been writing" without telling you where in the script to add it, or what to line to replace. It seems as if they're so excited about the subject of the book that they fail to stick to repetetive teaching conventions (which I personally find very helpful with programming books. I'm sure not everyone does. Call me dry.) I plan to finish this book, but I actually found my C++ books easier to read, and that can't be becuase C++ is easier. I think with some revision, this book could be a great staple for Perl programming on the Mac. Namely: Pick a lesson format and stick with it. Don't just wander through the features of Perl. Still glad they wrote it, though. Viva the Mac OS. If you're an absolute beginner, buy this book if you're prepared to re-read sections. If you're somewhat experienced, this book will probably prove quite useful to you.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book! Highly recommended!, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Macperl: Power and Ease (Paperback)

This book was an excellent introduction to Perl and to using Perl on the Mac. Anyone that has a Mac and has an interest in making their Mac more powerful needs this book. The only beef I have with it is that it should be less ease and more power... it needs more of the advanced Perl information as well as more examples, but these are both small considerations when you see how awesome this book is.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars an indespensible book for learning and for reference, June 2, 1998

By 

Sean Burke (Ketchikan, Alaska, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Macperl: Power and Ease (Paperback)

If you want to use MacPerl (the excellent port of Perl to MacOS, loaded with useful Mac-specific functions), you can do it one of two ways:

You can buy this book; or you you can poke around aimlessly for about two years learning, by trial and error (and guess, and crash), what is clearly laid out in this book.

Two years ago I was an already fairly experienced Perler, but with little experience with MacPerl. If I'd had this book two years ago, it would have saved me more time than I really even want to admit -- weeks? Months?

As MacPerl is rapidly becoming the data-conversion meta-tool, file-management language, and all-around Swiss Army chainsaw of choice for MacOS, you can't afford not to have this book.