Perl 5 Interactive Course [Paperback]

John Orwant (Author), Jon Orwant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1996 | Series: Interactive course

Presenting introductory level concepts through chapters that are subdivided into sessions designed to teach a single topic in an hour, this book and CD-ROM details how to write scripts and make them compatible with different operating systems, emphasizing Perl programming for the WWW.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This customized course in Perl includes a unique Web-based component with an online "mentor" to answer Perl questions, a special Internet Mailing List just for readers of this book that allows students to ask questions or "meet" other students, and online quizzes and exams for immediate feedback on their progress. - Online "mentor" offers individualized attention and answers the reader's specific Perl questions.

- Download a personalized Certificate of Achievement after successful completion of the tests

Product Details

• Paperback: 992 pages
• Publisher: Waite Group Press (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571690646
• ISBN-13: 978-1571690647
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.2 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,247,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent concept, poor editing, March 19, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Perl 5 Interactive Course (Paperback)

The concept was excellent: have a hardcopy text in front of you, an interactive version on your web browser, and a CDROM with a snapshot of the CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) in your CDROM drive.

Unfortunately, they were much too hasty to get the package on the shelves. In several chapters, the illustrations have been completely scrambled and are rendered useless (wrong figures over each caption). Also, there are many typos in the code samples, several of the scripts in each chapter are miscoded (can't do what they are supposed to do), and the quizes at the end of each section and the chapter tests contain many mistakes also.

As I noticed this, I said to myself 'Oh well, surely they will revise the website version.' Wrong. Since I have done plenty of scripting and programming in several languages, I was able to filter out most of the noise (although I am still left a bit confused about some topics), but I think the editorial botch of an otherwise excellent work will tend to confuse new-comers and non-programmers.

If you can deal with typos and such, get this book--it is a great reference as well as tutorial. Otherwise, wait for the second edition.

1.0 out of 5 stars Out of business, September 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Perl 5 Interactive Course (Paperback)

08-30-99 The eZone is now closed to new registrations with the exception of academic institutions who have integrated the eZone into this semesters course work. The eZone will officially close December 31, 1999. Current enrollees can continue taking courses until the official deactivation of the site in December. If you have pre-registered for an eZone course before this date we will continue "Business As Usual" until all course closings

3.0 out of 5 stars An excellent tutorial ruined by inexcusably sloppy editing., February 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Perl 5 Interactive Course (Paperback)

This book will teach you Perl. However, if you are on a Windows platform, do NOT follow the installation instructions unless you fully understand them and can tell at a glance what is wrong with them.

It is dangerous for an author to instruct people to muck around in the Windows registry and autoexec.bat when he isn't even careful enough to realize he is instructing you to insert registry keys referencing a directory that does not exist, and telling you to add a path statement that is incorrect according to his own instructions.

The problem with all this is that, (assuming you don't give up the installation), if later in the book your code doesn't work, you will be reduced to confusion, wondering whether you or the author made the mistake.

That's why God made editors. Too bad this author didn't have one.