in reply to How do I become a good programmer?

I tried to learn how to program about 5 or 6 times before I found Learning Perl. I feel your pain, as I never had any programming experience before Perl.

I used web-tutorials, borrowed books, code examples - you name it, I tried it. My brain (left-side, not right) has a lot of trouble with facts, figures, black characters on a white screen, etc etc. I was beginning to think I should stick to art and stuff.

Without wishing to sound like a total creep, Learning Perl was the first book I understood as I read through it. When I found Perlmonks, the first thing I did (after I found out he was here), was /msg merlyn and thank him for writing it. After all, without that book, I wouldn't be in the job I am now in. Sure, there are tons of great books out there, written by some very talented authors. But for me, the thing that finally made everything go *click*, was the Llama book. Try it. It works.

Believe me.

This is coming from a guy who was in Geometry I in his Senior Year in high school.

Azatoth a.k.a Captain Whiplash

Make Your Die Messages Full of Wisdom!
Get YOUR PerlMonks Stagename here!
Want to speak like a Londoner?

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Re: Re: Is it just me...?
by spartan (Pilgrim) on Jun 15, 2001 at 22:12 UTC
    I agree wholeheartedly... Where I work we set up a 1.5 hour meeting every week to start learning perl using the Learning Perl book. Some of us are complete newbies, others are a bit more adept. I have to admit though, it is pretty hard to learn the concepts without someplace to apply what you are learning. We are actively looking for good beginner projects to help jumpstart the learning curve, and have a few good ideas currently on the table. The most important thing I'd like to get across though is this: I am a VERY lucky bastard... My boss did not have to do this for us, but he has taken the time to create lessons based on each chapter, and has taught them to us. I would encourage other perl 'newbies|monks' (and everything in between) to try and do this for your own co-workers. It has made a huge difference in my life.

    Spartan 'perl newbie'

    Very funny Scotty... Now PLEASE beam down my PANTS!
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