As tempting as it might be to recommend the cookbook, I think it is probably not best to start with it early. While it provides many versatile ingredients, some of them are basic, like pepper, but others are more advanced, like saffron. I think it is best to learn how to use the eggs and milk before you start spicing things up. Although one may not want to wait *too* long to pick it up either. I finally got it after writing perl for 4 years or so. Some of the contents I had already learned, alsewhere, and with considerable effort. Finally, many of the recipes are also rather specialized and of little use to a beginner let alone many intermediate or advanced programmers.

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perl -pew "s/\b;([mnst])/'$1/g"