Perl 5 How-To: The Definitive Perl 5 Problem-Solver [Paperback]

Mike Glover (Author), Aidan Humphreys (Author), Ed Weiss (Author), Jason Mathews (Author), Selena Sol (Author), Stephen Asbury (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Series: How to... | Publication Date: September 1997

"Perl 5 How-To," Second Edition, is an invaluable resource that will save you hundreds of hours of programming time. This book provides 200 detailed, step-by-step solutions to Perl and CGI problems, complete with the reason the problem occurs, potential pitfalls, alternate solutions, and complete source code.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Perl 5 How-To saves Perl programmers hours of programming time by providing solutions to over 200 Perl problems in easy-to-access, award-winning Q&A format. - Multi-platform (UNIX, DOS) documentation and solutions

- Over 200 practical solutions to Perl programming problems

- CD-ROM includes Perl source code, binaries, scripts, and utilities-all of which can be plugged into the readers own Perl programs

Product Details

• Paperback: 894 pages
• Publisher: Waite Group Pr; 2 edition (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571691189
• ISBN-13: 978-1571691187
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,092,844 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Frequent errors make it difficult to use, November 3, 1999

By 

David Mertz ([e-mail]) (massachusetts, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perl 5 How-To: The Definitive Perl 5 Problem-Solver (Paperback)

I needed an intro to Perl, which also let me jump into examples. From the table-of-contents, this book seemed like it would be a good one. However, I found the first chapter so full of errors (especially in the code examples) that it was almost worthless for a Perl newbie like myself.

With Perl especially, it is difficult to know for certain whether a stray symbol in the code samples is a mistake or a subtle construct of Perl. This book's examples are cluttered with such odd mistakes, which really are generally mistakes.

Even worse, there is really inadequate discussion surrounding the code examples to tell exactly why they are presented. Sometimes new constructs actually are introduced in the examples, without explanation surrounding them (or even reference to the later sections where they will be fully explained... which would be fine too).

Very difficult for a beginner, and probably too simple for an expert.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The cd code examples are buggy, April 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Perl 5 How-To: The Definitive Perl 5 Problem-Solver (Paperback)

My first impression is that no one did any testing of the examples

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too proprietary, May 18, 1998

By 

max.t (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perl 5 How-To: The Definitive Perl 5 Problem-Solver (Paperback)

As you go through the book, more and more examples rely on the previously discussed code. That makes it unusable as a reference book.

My main complaint is that well over 1/3 of the book is devoted to HTML parsing and dynamic output, which is great. The problem is that the author wants you to use his HTML parsing engine for every 'How-to' recipe. So, if you don't want to use this particular parsing method, close to half of the book is useless. :(