Intermediate Perl

Intermediate Perl
Randal L. Schwartz, brian d foy & Tom Phoenix
O'Reilly Media, 2006
ISBN 0-596-10206-2
US$ 39.99

Rating: 5/5

One might wonder what intermediate really means when learning a language, as there are usually only two levels: beginning (that is, the newbie who learns the basics) and advanced (after you know the basics, you can move on to everything else). I think intermediate is more like the basics you should know but that you'd better not study when you begin. That is: you must know it, but before that it's better you learn the real basics. Said this, this is a new title for the second edition of an already existing book: Learning Perl Objects, References, and Modules.

So, which are the Perl topics a programmer should know? Well, modules for instance, which are the foundation of the great extensibility of the language; besides, the community largerly revolves around them (see CPAN...). Then there are references: five chapters are devoted to them, so it really isn't just matter of "a variable that contains the address of another one". And then there are objects, which in Perl can show up in quite a variety of fashions. This book is great in teaching these aspects of the language: it's not that you can't find them in Programming Perl, but the real difference in is how they are taught. In Intermediate Perl the authors use a simple and comprehensive approach, which not only tells you the things but also the best way to use what you are learning.

The book teaches, but doesn't dig: it's not advanced, it's intermediate, remember? You learn how to use classes and objects, but nothing about the various interesting class frameworks available on CPAN. It teaches you how to create a module distribution for CPAN, but not how to use cool and handy techniques such as Module::Build to do that. If you want that, you'll dig on your own but, after reading this book, you'll know how to perform the essential tasks by walking the standard way.

All in all, this book is just fine, the ideal follow-up to Learning Perl. However, it's not only for the beginners, but also for the many Perl programmer who just learned what they needed about the language but never had the time and will to get a coherent view of the whole thing.