

Learn Perl the Hard Way - AbyCodes
http://greenteapress.com/perl/index.html

======
autarch
This book is fairly out of date, being almost 9 years old now. I wouldn't
recommend it.

A better choice for programmers wanting to learn Perl is chromatic's Modern
Perl (<http://onyxneon.com/books/modern_perl/>).

------
bloblaw
This looks like a good introduction to the core of Perl programming, however I
would recommend "Modern Perl" by Chromatic. It's free (and legal) for the PDF
version.

Why do I recommend "Modern Perl" instead? Because it: (1) contains new
language features added to Perl in the last 9 years (2) covers how to use
Moose for OOP (3) shows how to use new Perl 6 features in Perl 5 (4) clearly
explains the _right_ way to do things (5) covers how to write tests (6)
demonstrates that the Perl language continues to evolve and is a modern and
effective programming language

And in the end, "Modern Perl" shows you how to write maintainable and
effective Perl code. Great book, and you can get the PDF for free here:
<http://onyxneon.com/books/modern_perl/>

------
zdwalter
I have put up exercises from Learn Python the hard way into Learn Javascript
the hard way. <http://learnjs.info>

~~~
phzbOx
I downvoted you mostly because I wasn't sure why you were talking about making
Python exercises into a Javascript emulator/learner tool when the thread is
about Perl.. but then, I wanted to cancel my vote but was unable to.

~~~
mapleoin
So why was he talking about making Python exercises into a Javascript
emulator/learner tool when the thread is about Perl?

------
telemachos
There are two issues in this thread.

First, a confusion: this book has nothing to do with Zed Shaw's Learn X the
Hard Way series. (I have no idea if Zed ever heard the title even. He may have
come to it - the title - completely independently.) _This_ book predates Zed's
series, and has a very different goal. Zed's book, as I understand it, targets
novices. The difficulty in the title is that you must do all the exercises and
learn from a lot of repetition and trying things on your own (as well as
looking up docs, further examples, etc. online). The Downey book, on the other
hand, is aimed at people with a programming or CS background who want to learn
Perl rapidly. The difficulty is that he moves very fast and assumes you can
handle things like a fairly dense Markov text generator by page 26.

Second, a lot of people say (assume?) that the book is out of date because
it's from 2003. Actually, _for its goal_ , I think that's wrong. If you are an
experienced programmer who wants to rapidly learn Perl's core syntax, I think
this is still a good place to start. You certainly might follow it up with
_Modern Perl_ or lots of readings in _perldoc_ and _perldelta_ , but the core
syntax and features of Perl 5 have not actually changed that much I think. I
can't think of any book that covers as much, with as many examples in such a
short book. It's also very clearly written.

~~~
zedshaw
I came up with the title, started my book, then found the perl book. So this
perl book isn't like my books at all and predates them by many years.

------
Ingaz
"Higher Order Perl" is the book I learned most how to write functional
_python_ code.

Yes. I haven't read not a single python book. "Dive into python", "Essential
Python", LPHW was boring.

I recommend HOP for every programmer.

------
mdonahoe
Written in 2003!

