Perl Cookbook (Paperback)

~ (Author), Nathan Torkington (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When the second edition of Programming Perl was released, the authors omitted two chapters: "Common Tasks with Perl" and "Real Perl Programs." Publisher O'Reilly & Associates soon realized that there would be too many pages in Programming Perl if it put updated recipes in the new edition. Instead, O'Reilly chose to release the many Perl code examples as a separate entity: The Perl Cookbook.

The recipes are well documented and the examples aren't too arcane; even beginners will be able to pick up the lessons taught here. The authors write in relatively easy-to-understand language (for a technical guide). Through this book and its arsenal of recipes, you will learn many new things about Perl to help you through your toughest projects. The next time you're working on a project at 2 a.m., you'll thank yourself for the guidance and direction The Perl Cookbook provides. --Doug Beaver

From Library Journal

Perl is probably the language holding together more web sites than any other. It is not the fastest or the most elegant, but it can slurp text as no other language can?and it is free. This is an invaluable book for all levels of Perl programmers, from novice to advanced. It contains great working examples of Perl code to do everything from data structures and string matching to reading files and using libraries to CGI programming and programming Internet applications. Highly recommended for all libraries; serious web collections should consider two copies.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 794 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly; 1 edition (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565922433
• ISBN-13: 978-1565922433
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (114 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #617,028 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Several years of experience in several hundred pages, December 12, 1999

By	Brian Neal (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

Sometimes I think either Tim O'Reilly or Tom Christiansen knows what I am thinking.

In the past week alone, I can count half a dozen times I have wondered about ways to do things in Perl, and never once have I failed to get either a full solution or a running start from the information in this book. If you have read Learning Perl by Christiansen and Schwartz (and if you haven't, you probably should before tackling this one), then this is your next step on the road to Perl.

This book contains hundreds of examples of solutions to "How do I..." type problems using Perl. Ranging from core language topics like hashes, sorting, and string and array processing, to files, database access, IPC, and brief but useful sections on Web and CGI usage, there is something here for everyone who does things with Perl.

Each chapter contains at least a dozen 'recipes' for solving a particular problem in a particular context. Each recipe is neatly laid out with a brief description of the problem, a proposed solution, and a follow-up discussion section. I especially appreciated the discussions, as they maintain the plurality of Perl--the proposed solutions work, but the discussion area almost invariably also includes alternate approaches or techniques. That's the beauty of Perl (and its motto)--There's More Than One Way To Do It. This book offers the intermediate programmer years of experience in solving real world problems using Perl in a few hundred, easy to read pages.

If you have learned enough about Perl to get started, the next thing you should do is get this book. So get cooking!

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect companion to Programming Perl and Advanced Perl Prog, December 4, 1998

By	Jeffry Scott (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After dog-earring (sic) the pages of the first edition of Programming Perl (the Camel book), I quickly glommed on to the second edition, thinking that they'll have even more informed narrative and great examples. The enhanced narrative WAS worth purchase of the second edition, but, as mentioned in the Amazon.com review, the "Command Tasks with Perl" and "Real Perl Programs" chapters had been dropped... it's been the closest I've ever come to letter-bombing a book publisher. Little did we know that there was a cunning plan by the Perl wizards and O'Reilly to produce The Perl Cookbook.

While in this world of instant communication some say that two years was a long time to wait for the Cookbook, the wait was definitely worth it. The Cookbook is a treasure trove of examples, and should be considered a mandatory companion to Programming Perl AND Advanced Perl Programming on the bookshelf of intermediate and advanced perl programmers.

The Cookbook is also a great place for the novice to feed after cutting their teeth on Learning Perl. Each section is a mini-tutorial with nice examples to enter and ponder. Combined with the Camel book as general background and reference, you'll go a long way in finding quick solutions to common problems.

I'm not sure what was the problem of one reviewer regarding typographical errors. I've been using the first edition of the Cookbook, and have not encountered any serious difficulties. It seems that any typographical errors (and I haven't seen any, but then I haven't been looking) would have at worst lost one star in rating the Cookbook. Benefits of the Cookbook seem to far outweigh the nits on which this reviewer has focused. I do agree with the reviewer's final note: buy copies from the second and third printings, as I'm sure the first edition has already sold out! (... and some perl book geek will view this as an opportunity to collect a "first edition.")

It's not often I'm moved to write an online review. The Perl Cookbook is a superb reference for any serious perl programmer and especially for the novice and intermediate wanting to improve their skills. Buy this book! Bon appetit!

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best programming books I have read, January 18, 2000

By	Douglas Welzel (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have owned this book for over a year and still use it regularly. While I was learning Perl syntax I found that it served very well when language guides such as "Programming Perl" fell short. When I started using the language I didn't have the syntax totally mastered and came across various little questions and problems. The "Perl Cookbook" addressed both of these by providing succinct solutions to my problems while helping me learn more about Perl syntax.

Furthermore, this book exposes you to the various Perl modules available in a more natural way than searching for them in a general language reference like "Perl in a Nutshell". Most recipies in the book present a simple code solution and then refer to a module that provides the same (and often extended) functionality.