Customer Reviews

Perl 5 Unleashed

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As a complete novice to Perl, the cover comments and certifications looked good. But it didn't take me long to realise that this was one of the worst computing books I've read. Inaccurate explanations, incorrect examples, examples on the CD that don't work, sections of corrupted text, the list goes on. I expected far better from a publisher like SAMS. I've complained to SAMS but they havn't replied ! DON'T BUY THIS BOOK !

I am very disappointed in Sams Publishing for releasing this book. It is technically inaccurate contrary to what the apporval emblem from Michael Moncur on the back cover says. I would like to see Sams Publishing pull this book off of the shelves. It is very misleading to any programmer. I have been programming PERL for 3 years. Trust me on this one. Get Programming PERL from OReilly and Associates. It is the required PERL resource.

Do not buy. Typos, examples that don't work, examples that don't match the text and worse abound. As a Perl beginner, I found myself constantly looking beyond the book - changing the code to "what they really meant" and guessing about the gaps. The book leaves much of the important syntax a mystery. Finally I realized there must be a review of this book on the web. There is one by Tom Christiansen that, from my experience, hits it head on, was fun reading given my enormous frustration, and told me how misinformed I'd been even about features that "seemed to work". Check it out - the review, not the book - and laugh

This book is excellent to learn Perl 5, it is better than other titles that I've checked. You only have to read the three first chapters to understand others Perl scripts and even write your own scripts; you can read them in a week. Perl 5 Unleashed is my personal "Perl Bible". This book is clear and concise, excellent if you are a beginner and don't want to spend many hours to learn Perl; also it's an excellent reference for advanced programmers. It's true that the book has some typos, but you will get enough knowledge that you will find them easily, which by the way can be considered as excellent "find-the-bug excersises". I strongly recommend this book if you need to learn Perl right now and from a good teacher. Thank you Husain.

I have spent some time looking at this title, and it covers quite a broad section of Perl applications. The actual language section represents less than 20% of the text, the rest is dedicated to the actual use of the language - databases, cgi, Win32, system functions. A good book for people with more advanced applications to write.