newbie requests book recommendations: What Perl book to start with?

Anonymous Monk has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: newbie... by dragonchild (Archbishop) on Aug 03, 2001 at 23:45 UTC
If you're on a Unix machine, read Learning Perl. If you're on Windows, read Learning Perl on Win32. Both are from O'Reilly Associates and are 5-star books. I purchased the first to teach my girlfriend how to program and she's never programmed before. After that, get yourself a copy of Programming Perl, also by ORA. If you make this into a career, you will want that as your reference. Oh - welcome aboard! :) ------ /me wants to be the brightest bulb in the chandelier!	[reply]
Re: Re: newbie... by davorg (Chancellor) on Aug 06, 2001 at 12:46 UTC
I disagree. The second edition of "Learning Perl" (which was the one that also came with a Win32 edition) was not aimed at complete non-programmers. I hear that the 3rd edition addresses this, but I haven't read it yet. The 3rd edition also does away with the need for a separate Win32 version as it covers cross-platform information in more detail. In my opinion, the best book for non-programmers to learn Perl is Andrew Johnson's "Elements of Programming with Perl". -- <http://www.dave.org.uk> Perl Training in the UK <http://www.iterative-software.com>	[reply]
Re: newbie... by tachyon (Chancellor) on Aug 03, 2001 at 23:46 UTC
Have a look at Your first Perl Book for a full rundown - even has the results of a little survey. Personally I would not recommend Programming Perl (top in the survey) as a first book although I use it as a reference every day and you will need it if you plan to do a lot of Perl. cheers tachyon s&&rsenoyhcatreve&&&s&n.+t&"$'$`$\"$\&"&ee&&y&srve&&d&&print	[reply]
Re: newbie requests book recommendations by Maclir (Curate) on Aug 06, 2001 at 07:03 UTC
The Perl Cookbook is another good one to have in your library.	[reply]