Books
Over all other ways of learning Perl, I recommend the reading of books - not one,
but several books in order to get full coverage of topics and to get the perspective of
several authors.
I suggest you start with my book recommendations below.
But if those don't seem to meet your needs then feel free to browse the links I provide
on over 165 available Perl books.
Perl books which focus on the topic of CGI are separated because CGI is perhaps
the single most important use of the Perl programming language. Beginning
and advanced Perl books will usually include content on CGI, but do not focus on
the use of Perl for CGI applications.
Recommended Perl Books
Here are my suggestion on three basic books to get you started in Perl.
I should point out that the first book listed is universally popular. You can't go wrong with it.
It takes a beginner from the basics of Perl and also covers more advanced materials to let you go
beyond the basics.
The second book is not particularly popular but it one of my favorites. I think it is an excellent book for beginners.
It's format of having discussion and examples on facing pages is very helpful for a beginner.
Also, the book does not try to cover every aspect of a topic - it keeps the content to a beginner level.
You'll definitely need other books as you grow, but this book provides you with the foundation to
handle the next level of books.
Finally, the third book is not exactly for beginners, but it is an introduction to the use of Perl on
web sites, which is one of the key reasons for using Perl. I suggest that you at least read the
Programmer's Notebook before taking on this one.
These next books provide more in-depth content and cover a wider range of features than the two books recommended above.
You'll want to read the "Learning Perl" before taking on any of these.
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