Appendix B. Perl Resources

The most important resource for Perl programmers is the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network , or simply CPAN . The CPAN is a replicated archive of Perl modules, documentation, scripts, ports, development releases, and just about anything else you can think of that relates to Perl. The CPAN can be found in many major FTP archives. It can also be accessed via the World Wide Web.

There are many other notable Perl resources on-line. The Effective Perl Programming page at www.effectiveperl.com contains documentation, examples, and scripts, as well as errata and other information about this book. Randal's home page, http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/, contains links to many articles and source code examples. O'Reilly's www.perl.com page contains a CPAN mirror and links to a large number of other Perl resources. You should also check out the Perl Institute's home page at www.perl.org.

There are many books written about Perl, many of them concentrating on Perl's use as a CGI scripting language for the World Wide Web. Quality varies; however, the official language reference, Programming Perl , by Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, and Randal Schwartz, is solid. Randal's Learning Perl is an excellent introduction to the language and has served well as a backbone for our classes. Jeffrey Friedl's Mastering Regular Expressions is a must-read for anyone with a serious interest in regular expressions, in Perl or otherwise .

Perl training is available from a variety of sources, including Randal's Stonehenge Consulting Services, on-line at www.perltraining.com.

Answers for your Perl questions can be found by posting questions to the appropriate Perl group on USENETgenerally comp.lang.perl.misc . Bug reports can be submitted with the perlbug program (part of the standard Perl installation). Technical questions concerning porting or design can be addressed to the Perl 5 Porters List.