in reply to Perl Man Pages

Finally, bite the bullet and buy "Programming Perl" and "The Perl Cookbook". The two are invaluable. Trust me on this, my first two years with Perl, I never closed the Camel Book. When I found "The Perl Cookbook", I had one of those "if only I had known" moments, knowing that learning Perl would have been infinitely easier if I'd had it from Day One.

-Logan
"What do I want? I'm an American. I want more."

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Re^2: Perl Man Pages
by Ionizor (Pilgrim) on Jan 14, 2003 at 05:05 UTC
[reply]
Re: Re: Perl Man Pages
by helgi (Hermit) on Jan 14, 2003 at 10:11 UTC
    Three years ago, I would have agreed with you and I certainly have a few copies of both books lying around, but they are primarily for those quiet moments in the men's room. Nowadays, at the desk, I use perldoc exclusively when I want to look for something and C:/Perl/html/ when I want to browse through pages of docs. Paper is just no substitute, I'm afraid.

    BTW, both are available in digital form, for example here,which is far more useful as you can copy and paste the examples into your program when coding. He he. Instant expert.

    --
    Regards,
    Helgi Briem
    helgi AT decode DOT is

[reply]
      I beg to differ. I have found that paper is far superior to perldoc. My books are highlighted, personalized, annotated, and can be used to kill spiders. Books clutter my physical desktop, but not my virtual desktop, which is far smaller. When was the last time you tried annotating an html file? Realistically, you can't do it. You'd have to start a separate text file of notes.

      I won't argue that having html and perldoc for documentation isn't useful, because it is. And, true, having both the Perl Bookshelf and the Lincoln Stein CGI book in a digital form has been hugely convenient. Still, I wouldn't give up my books for anything. Sometimes, I just like to (gasp!) walk away from my PC, plunk myself down somewhere else, and read.

      -Logan
      "What do I want? I'm an American. I want more."

[reply]
        I'm of the same mind, Logan. I mean, I love having perldoc for fast stuff, and I'm also the proud owner of the Perl CD Bookshelves 1 and 2 as well as many other CD bookshelves for convenience, but I like to have hardcopy as well. It's nice to be able to read about Perl when I can't be writing it. =)

        ~Brian
[reply]
        I only use the dead tree books for "the reading room" nowadays.

        --
        Regards,
        Helgi Briem
        helgi AT decode DOT is

[reply]
        Three years ago, I would have agreed with you and I certainly have a few copies of both books lying around... Nowadays, at the desk, I use perldoc exclusively

      Given that the guy said he's a perl newbie and a programming newbie, the books would almost certainly be better for him.

[reply]
        I disagree. There is nothing better nor more important for a Perl newbie to learn than how to use perldoc.

        It should be the first line in every post.

        It should be in the Perl Monks logo.

        Learn to use perldoc. You'll never regret it.

        --
        Regards,
        Helgi Briem
        helgi AT decode DOT is

[reply]

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