by Allen B. Downey
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For a newer book about Perl 6, now called Raku, see Think Raku by Laurent Rosenfeld with Allen B. Downey.
Description
Do we really need another Perl book? Well obviously I think so, and here’s why:
- I want a book for people who already know how to program in another language, but don’t know Perl.
- I want a book that gets through the basics as quickly as possible. I’m sick of reading about the precedence of operators; I want to know how to do the fun stuff.
- I want a book that emphasizes good programming style in Perl. Many of the Perl programs I have seen are written in a quick-and-dirty style; I wanted to see if the style I have developed in other languages can translate.
- In many Perl books, object-oriented programming is treated as an optional feature for advanced programming. I wanted to bring it closer to the center of focus (although I am anything but an object-oriented bigot).
In presenting Perl features, I tried to find examples that are interesting in their own right, and that encourage the reader to explore Perl’s features.
Learning Perl the Hard Way is a free book available under the GNU Free Documentation License. Readers are free to copy and distribute the text; they are also free to modify it, which allows them to adapt the book to different needs, and to help develop new material.