For getting started with Perl, see the links below:

• learn.perl.org

From the documentation that ships with Perl:

• perlintro
• perlsyn
• perlsub
• perlvar
• A few of the Perl tutorials

Other getting started links:

• Perl Monks Tutorials (see especially the Getting Started with Perl section)
• Discipulus's library by Discipulus (see "learning and teaching Perl" section)
• Re: Real Life Perl Exercises (comprehensive list by planetscape)
• Swallowing an elephant in 10 easy steps by ELISHEVA (Describes how she tackles big problems to keep moving forward rather than going around in circles)

• What is the best way to master perl
• Re: Perl Exercises: For Beginners
• Problems to solve for Perl Beginners
• Small Perl quests for a beginner?
• Reflections on Skills of the Skillful
• In need of guidance
• Perl Puzzles
• Additional exercises for "Learning Perl" book?
• Want to be a part of a project
• Forgetting Syntax, Forgetting logic, Heck, Should I even try keep learning Perl??
• Whats the average time taken to learn Perl?
• Re^2: Bling Bling (or: Teaching Perl to Teenagers)
• Learning Fundamentals: Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in Perl
• Best ways of learning Perl!
• seeking direction to start with perl
• how can I learn well
• Recommended Reading
• Why learn Perl?
• How does one learn perl programming efficiently - if they do not come from computer science background?
• Recomendations For Learning perl?
• Learning Perl by Doing
• Trudging along the learning perl path.
• Free eLearning material for Perl?
• Advice for Perl teaching

• RFC: Self Assessment Perl by LanX (quiz to test how well you really know Perl, used at his workplace)
• On Interviewing and Interview Questions (some Perl interview questions, see also Rosetta Dispatch Table (Interview Question))

Getting Started at Perl Monks

• Re^3: checking for piped input data (Getting Started at Perl Monks References) (2023)

• How do I post a question effectively?
• How (Not) To Ask A Question
• XY Problem
• I know what I mean. Why don't you?

• Short, Self-Contained, Correct Example
• Minimal reproducible example (wikipedia)
• How to create a Minimal, Reproducible Example (SO)

Recent Getting Started Nodes

• How to ask better questions using Test::More and sample data by neilwatson (2016)
• Re: How to ask better questions using Test::More and sample data by haukex - notes that when testing regex, having many test cases helps
• Re: Driving the Engine right off the road by hippo (2025) - suggests OP (Intrepid) read How to ask better questions using Test::More and sample data

• Old Programmer New To Perl by storm5510 (see especially first reply by haukex)
• latest perl book.
• RFC: Perl Learning Plan by Leitz
• How is Perl for automation? by fidodido
• The rookie drama by hrcerq

• Perl tutorial building on Python skills? by LanX (2021, also good discussion of Perl books)
• Advice on learning Perl and graphics by Dr. Subtilis (2022, teaching Perl to a nine year old)
• Beginner Recommendations by Ookma-Kyi (2023, wants to learn to code in Perl, would like to read a physical book)
• Re^4: How to check if a scalar value is numeric or string? by voidzero (2023, day 2 of perl journey, first post at Perl Monks)

• Advice for next steps on my Perl journey by MoodyDreams999 (2023, learnt perl on the job, but feels it isn't enough to really learn it)
• Tips on contributing to the community? by MoodyDreams999 (2024, would now like to contribute as a member of the Perl community)

• How to make distribution for simple script with CPAN dependencies? by peteyboy (2024, learning Perl by writing a small script)

Rosetta Code (Many Different Languages)

• Rosetta code (category Perl)

• Tales from writing a RPN evaluator in Perl 5, Perl 6 and Haskell
• Five Ways to Reverse a String of Words (C#, Perl 5, Perl 6, Ruby, Haskell)
• Yet Another Rosetta Code Problem (Perl, Ruby, Python, Haskell, ...)
• Rosetta PGA-TRAM
• Rosetta Code: Long List is Long
• Rosetta code: Split an array into chunks
• Re^2: Perlplexation - foreach shoulda Known (Rosetta: Perl, Python, Ruby)
• Rosetta Dispatch Table (Interview Question)

Extra Book References Added Later

Some book and other recommendations:

• learn.perl.org basic book list, see especially Learning Perl and Intermediate Perl by merlyn (longer book list)
• Modern Perl (by chromatic - fantastic free intro to Perl for decent programmers who are not familiar with perl)
• perlmaven (by szabgab - lots of good free stuff here)
• Perl Taster (Kindle) (by davorg - not free but very cheap)
• Re: latest perl book. by davido

• Book Reviews (Perl Monks Book Reviews section)

• Effective Perl Programming by brian d foy et al
• Minimal Perl by Tim Maher

BTW chromatic gave some background on the philosophy behind his Modern Perl book in this thread:

Modern Perl assumes you're already decent at programming, so it elides some basic stuff in favor of explaining how Perl works from philosophy to programming in the large. Learning Perl assumes you've never programmed before, so it spends more time on the basics, covers less of the language, and doesn't explore the philosophy of Perl in as much detail.

See Also

• use strict and use warnings References
• List of PM nodes discussing Perl books

Update: Added more references