Perl for Dummies (Fourth Edition)

In the days before personal computers, BASIC was the easy programming language to learn, and serious programmers learned FORTRAN or COBOL to do “real work.” Today, many people have discovered that Perl is both a great beginning programming language and?one that enables them to write powerful programs with little effort.

If you’re interested in discovering how to program (or how others program), Perl For Dummies, 4th Edition, is for you. If you already know something about programming (but not about Perl), this book is also for you. If you’re already an expert programmer, you’re still welcome to read this book; you can just skip the basic stuff (you never know what kind of new tips and tricks you’ll pick up).

This reference guide shows you how to use Perl under many different operating systems, such as UNIX, many flavors of Windows (Windows 95/98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows Me, and Windows XP), and Macintosh OS 9 and OS X; in fact, Perl runs on many more operating systems than these.

Here's a sampling of what Perl For Dummies, 4th Edition, has to offer:

• Installing Perl on various platforms
• Nailing down the basics of building Perl programs
• Working with text and numbers
• Constructing lists and working with them
• Creating conditionals and loops
• Delving into more advanced features such as operators and functions
• Reading and writing files and directories
• Using subroutines for modularity
• Demystifying Web server programs
• Creating your own Internet clients

The Perl programming language enables you to write fully working computer programs with just a few steps. It’s particularly good at common programming tasks, such as reading and writing text files, but it also excels at reducing the work that programmers have to do. Perl For Dummies, 4th Edition, shows you how to do all of that and how to modify programs to your heart’s content. After all, one of the common phrases in the world of Perl programmers is, “There's more than one way to do it.”

The standard for Perl books is, of course, Perl founder Larry Wall's Programming Perl. But every journey requires a first step, and the assumption that everyone interested in learning Perl has a programmer's background can make other Perl books inaccessible to the absolute beginner. Enter Perl for Dummies, a book that presumes that the reader wants to know only how to master the mechanics of Perl.

Just because it starts at the beginning--and we're talking about the very basics--doesn't mean that Perl for Dummies doesn't head into more advanced topics. Paul Hoffman explains the programming terminology and mathematical concepts that programming in Perl requires. He also moves beyond basic file manipulation, discussing pattern matching and using regular expressions. He touches on good Perl style, as well as object-oriented Perl.

He's not averse to criticizing what he perceives as Perl's shortcomings, but he also counters with a section called "10 Reasons Why Perl Is Better Than Java." Hoffman takes great pride in demystifying Perl--a goal that fits in well with Larry Wall's own philosophy of promoting Perl's accessibility. As a way into the "duct tape" programming language, Perl for Dummies fulfills its mission. --Jennifer Buckendorff