Useful Perl Resources

Because Perl is so widespread, it's little wonder that there are so many resources for it available in as many formats as you might want. Nearly everyone involved in content provider work on the Internet needs to have some familiarity with Perl, so computer bookstores do a brisk trade in books on the subject, and the most cursory or off-topic of searches on the Web will turn up discussions between Perl hackers on how to do this or that.

The following sections list some of the more centralized and "official" sources of Perl information.

Websites

If you need a Perl reference, the first stop should be the Web. It's not as direct or definitive as a book, but if you don't have such a book, you're sure to find your answer on the Web in at least some form.

www.perl.org

www.perl.org is the "Perl Mongers" website, an independently run source of information and advocacy references. There are mailing lists you can join as well as affiliated websites, such as www.perldoc.com, the centralized Perl documentation database.

www.perl.com

The "official" Perl site, run by O'Reilly, is an aggregation of Perl news, tutorials, and discussions about all kinds of details of working with Perl. This is probably the most complete site for everyday Perl happenings, if not necessarily for definitive reference.

Books

Just about every Perl hacker has one of the popular O'Reilly Perl reference books on hand; for complete and easy-to-follow reference, these books are hard to beat.

The "Camel" Book

Programming Perl, Third Edition is the complete Perl reference book, written by Larry Wall (the father of Perl), Tom Christiansen, and Jon Orwant (O'Reilly, 2000). Nicknamed for the camel on the cover, which has become synonymous with Perl as a visual logo, this book is frequently revised to cover the most recent developments in the Perl world, and it's widely accepted as the "definitive" work on the subject. One of its best features is an alphabetized function reference, an indispensable section.

The "Llama" Book

Learning Perl, Fourth Edition, by Randal L. Schwartz and Tom Phoenix (O'Reilly, 2005) is the "camel" book's little brother; the llama is its icon. It discusses the basics of Perl (essentially the same topics covered in this chapter) in enough detail and with an engagingenough style to cover pretty much all you'll need to get you to where Perl is no longer a foreign language to you.

Perl Developer's Dictionary

Perl Developer's Dictionary by Clinton Pierce (Sams Publishing, 2001, ISBN: 0672320673) is a comprehensive reference of all Perl functions, and one of the most complete texts on the subject available today. It's ideal for the more advanced Perl hacker who needs reference on syntax and usage more than tutorials on how Perl works.

Teach Yourself Perl in 24 Hours

This step-by-step, entry-level guide, also by Clinton Pierce (Sams Publishing, 2002, ISBN: 0672320355), gives you a running start into putting Perl to practical use very quickly. Also, Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days (Sams Publishing, 2002, ISBN: 0672322765) takes the tutorial to the next level of depth with lots of concrete examples.

The CPAN

The CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) is where all the Perl modules across the Net are pulled together and made public. This also applies to binary distributions, scripts, and other tools, as well as source code for the brave of heart. Its primary usefulness, though, is for its comprehensive module list; if there's a module you want to install that isn't in the ports collection, you'll find it here, as well as all kinds of documentation that will help you use it.

The CPAN's central site is at http://www.cpan.org. The CPAN's purpose is to provide numerous worldwide mirrors of its resources so that everyone will have quick access to it; you can use the "CPAN sites" list and map to find a mirror close to you and bookmark it for later reference.

You should also bookmark http://search.cpan.org, which offers a lightweight and efficient mechanism for finding a module based on your search terms, or documentation for a module you're working with.