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.\" ========================================================================
.\"
.IX Title "PERLBOOK 1perl"
.TH PERLBOOK 1perl 2024-02-11 "perl v5.38.2" "Perl Programmers Reference Guide"
.\" For nroff, turn off justification.  Always turn off hyphenation; it makes
.\" way too many mistakes in technical documents.
.if n .ad l
.nh
.SH NAME
perlbook \- Books about and related to Perl
.SH DESCRIPTION
.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
There are many books on Perl and Perl-related. A few of these are
good, some are OK, but many aren't worth your money. There is a list
of these books, some with extensive reviews, at
<https://www.perl.org/books/library.html> . We list some of the books here, and while
listing a book implies our
endorsement, don't think that not including a book means anything.
.PP
Most of these books are available online through Safari Books Online
( <http://safaribooksonline.com/> ).
.SS "The most popular books"
.IX Subsection "The most popular books"
The major reference book on Perl, written by the creator of Perl, is
\&\fIProgramming Perl\fR:
.IP "\fIProgramming Perl\fR (the ""Camel Book""):" 4
.IX Item "Programming Perl (the ""Camel Book""):"
.Vb 4
\& by Tom Christiansen, brian d foy, Larry Wall with Jon Orwant
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-00492\-7 [4th edition February 2012]
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-9890\-3 [ebook]
\& https://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596004927
.Ve
.PP
The Ram is a cookbook with hundreds of examples of using Perl to
accomplish specific tasks:
.IP "\fIThe Perl Cookbook\fR (the ""Ram Book""):" 4
.IX Item "The Perl Cookbook (the ""Ram Book""):"
.Vb 5
\& by Tom Christiansen and Nathan Torkington,
\& with Foreword by Larry Wall
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-00313\-5 [2nd Edition August 2003]
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-15888\-0 [ebook]
\& https://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596003135/
.Ve
.PP
If you want to learn the basics of Perl, you might start with the
Llama book, which assumes that you already know a little about
programming:
.IP "\fILearning Perl\fR  (the ""Llama Book"")" 4
.IX Item "Learning Perl (the ""Llama Book"")"
.Vb 4
\& by Randal L. Schwartz, Tom Phoenix, and brian d foy
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-0358\-7 [6th edition June 2011]
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-0458\-4 [ebook]
\& https://www.learning\-perl.com/
.Ve
.PP
The tutorial started in the Llama continues in the Alpaca, which
introduces the intermediate features of references, data structures,
object-oriented programming, and modules:
.IP "\fIIntermediate Perl\fR (the ""Alpaca Book"")" 4
.IX Item "Intermediate Perl (the ""Alpaca Book"")"
.Vb 5
\& by Randal L. Schwartz and brian d foy, with Tom Phoenix
\&         foreword by Damian Conway
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-9309\-0 [2nd edition August 2012]
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-0459\-1 [ebook]
\& https://www.intermediateperl.com/
.Ve
.SS References
.IX Subsection "References"
You might want to keep these desktop references close by your keyboard:
.IP "\fIPerl 5 Pocket Reference\fR" 4
.IX Item "Perl 5 Pocket Reference"
.Vb 4
\& by Johan Vromans
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-0370\-9 [5th edition July 2011]
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-0813\-1 [ebook]
\& https://oreilly.com/catalog/0636920018476/
.Ve
.IP "\fIPerl Debugger Pocket Reference\fR" 4
.IX Item "Perl Debugger Pocket Reference"
.Vb 4
\& by Richard Foley
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-00503\-0 [1st edition January 2004]
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-55625\-9 [ebook]
\& https://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596005030/
.Ve
.IP "\fIRegular Expression Pocket Reference\fR" 4
.IX Item "Regular Expression Pocket Reference"
.Vb 4
\& by Tony Stubblebine
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-51427\-3 [2nd edition July 2007]
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-55782\-9 [ebook]
\& https://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596514273/
.Ve
.SS Tutorials
.IX Subsection "Tutorials"
.IP "\fIBeginning Perl\fR" 4
.IX Item "Beginning Perl"
(There are 2 books with this title)
.Sp
.Vb 3
\& by Curtis \*(AqOvid\*(Aq Poe
\& ISBN 978\-1\-118\-01384\-7
\& http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/productCd\-1118013840.html
\&
\& by James Lee
\& ISBN 1\-59059\-391\-X [3rd edition April 2010 & ebook]
\& https://www.apress.com/9781430227939
.Ve
.IP "\fILearning Perl\fR (the ""Llama Book"")" 4
.IX Item "Learning Perl (the ""Llama Book"")"
.Vb 4
\& by Randal L. Schwartz, Tom Phoenix, and brian d foy
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-0358\-7 [6th edition June 2011]
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-0458\-4 [ebook]
\& https://www.learning\-perl.com/
.Ve
.IP "\fIIntermediate Perl\fR (the ""Alpaca Book"")" 4
.IX Item "Intermediate Perl (the ""Alpaca Book"")"
.Vb 5
\& by Randal L. Schwartz and brian d foy, with Tom Phoenix
\&         foreword by Damian Conway
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-9309\-0 [2nd edition August 2012]
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-0459\-1 [ebook]
\& https://www.intermediateperl.com/
.Ve
.IP "\fIMastering Perl\fR" 4
.IX Item "Mastering Perl"
.Vb 4
\&    by brian d foy
\& ISBN 9978\-1\-4493\-9311\-3 [2st edition January 2014]
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-6487\-8 [ebook]
\& https://www.masteringperl.org/
.Ve
.IP "\fIEffective Perl Programming\fR" 4
.IX Item "Effective Perl Programming"
.Vb 3
\& by Joseph N. Hall, Joshua A. McAdams, brian d foy
\& ISBN 0\-321\-49694\-9 [2nd edition 2010]
\& https://www.effectiveperlprogramming.com/
.Ve
.SS Task-Oriented
.IX Subsection "Task-Oriented"
.IP "\fIWriting Perl Modules for CPAN\fR" 4
.IX Item "Writing Perl Modules for CPAN"
.Vb 3
\& by Sam Tregar
\& ISBN 1\-59059\-018\-X [1st edition August 2002 & ebook]
\& https://www.apress.com/9781590590188
.Ve
.IP "\fIThe Perl Cookbook\fR" 4
.IX Item "The Perl Cookbook"
.Vb 5
\& by Tom Christiansen and Nathan Torkington,
\&     with Foreword by Larry Wall
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-00313\-5 [2nd Edition August 2003]
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-15888\-0 [ebook]
\& https://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596003135/
.Ve
.IP "\fIAutomating System Administration with Perl\fR" 4
.IX Item "Automating System Administration with Perl"
.Vb 4
\& by David N. Blank\-Edelman
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-00639\-6 [2nd edition May 2009]
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-80251\-6 [ebook]
\& https://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596006396
.Ve
.IP "\fIReal World SQL Server Administration with Perl\fR" 4
.IX Item "Real World SQL Server Administration with Perl"
.Vb 3
\& by Linchi Shea
\& ISBN 1\-59059\-097\-X [1st edition July 2003 & ebook]
\& https://www.apress.com/9781590590973
.Ve
.SS "Special Topics"
.IX Subsection "Special Topics"
.IP "\fIRegular Expressions Cookbook\fR" 4
.IX Item "Regular Expressions Cookbook"
.Vb 4
\& by Jan Goyvaerts and Steven Levithan
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-1943\-4 [2nd edition August 2012]
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-2747\-7 [ebook]
\& https://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920023630.do
.Ve
.IP "\fIProgramming the Perl DBI\fR" 4
.IX Item "Programming the Perl DBI"
.Vb 4
\& by Tim Bunce and Alligator Descartes
\& ISBN 978\-1\-56592\-699\-8 [February 2000]
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-8670\-2 [ebook]
\& https://oreilly.com/catalog/9781565926998
.Ve
.IP "\fIPerl Best Practices\fR" 4
.IX Item "Perl Best Practices"
.Vb 4
\& by Damian Conway
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-00173\-5 [1st edition July 2005]
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-15900\-9 [ebook]
\& https://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596001735
.Ve
.IP "\fIHigher-Order Perl\fR" 4
.IX Item "Higher-Order Perl"
.Vb 4
\& by Mark\-Jason Dominus
\& ISBN 1\-55860\-701\-3 [1st edition March 2005]
\& free ebook https://hop.perl.plover.com/book/
\& https://hop.perl.plover.com/
.Ve
.IP "\fIMastering Regular Expressions\fR" 4
.IX Item "Mastering Regular Expressions"
.Vb 4
\& by Jeffrey E. F. Friedl
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-52812\-6 [3rd edition August 2006]
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-55899\-4 [ebook]
\& https://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596528126
.Ve
.IP "\fINetwork Programming with Perl\fR" 4
.IX Item "Network Programming with Perl"
.Vb 3
\& by Lincoln Stein
\& ISBN 0\-201\-61571\-1 [1st edition 2001]
\& https://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Network\-Programming\-with\-Perl/9780201615715.page
.Ve
.IP "\fIPerl Template Toolkit\fR" 4
.IX Item "Perl Template Toolkit"
.Vb 4
\& by Darren Chamberlain, Dave Cross, and Andy Wardley
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-00476\-7 [December 2003]
\& ISBN 978\-1\-4493\-8647\-4 [ebook]
\& https://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596004767
.Ve
.IP "\fIObject Oriented Perl\fR" 4
.IX Item "Object Oriented Perl"
.Vb 4
\& by Damian Conway
\&     with foreword by Randal L. Schwartz
\& ISBN 1\-884777\-79\-1 [1st edition August 1999 & ebook]
\& https://www.manning.com/conway/
.Ve
.IP "\fIData Munging with Perl\fR" 4
.IX Item "Data Munging with Perl"
.Vb 3
\& by Dave Cross
\& ISBN 1\-930110\-00\-6 [1st edition 2001 & ebook]
\& https://www.manning.com/cross
.Ve
.IP "\fIMastering Perl/Tk\fR" 4
.IX Item "Mastering Perl/Tk"
.Vb 4
\& by Steve Lidie and Nancy Walsh
\& ISBN 978\-1\-56592\-716\-2 [1st edition January 2002]
\& ISBN 978\-0\-596\-10344\-6 [ebook]
\& https://oreilly.com/catalog/9781565927162
.Ve
.IP "\fIExtending and Embedding Perl\fR" 4
.IX Item "Extending and Embedding Perl"
.Vb 3
\& by Tim Jenness and Simon Cozens
\& ISBN 1\-930110\-82\-0 [1st edition August 2002 & ebook]
\& https://www.manning.com/jenness
.Ve
.IP "\fIPro Perl Debugging\fR" 4
.IX Item "Pro Perl Debugging"
.Vb 3
\& by Richard Foley with Andy Lester
\& ISBN 1\-59059\-454\-1 [1st edition July 2005 & ebook]
\& https://www.apress.com/9781590594544
.Ve
.SS "Free (as in beer) books"
.IX Subsection "Free (as in beer) books"
Some of these books are available as free downloads.
.PP
\&\fIHigher-Order Perl\fR: <https://hop.perl.plover.com/>
.PP
\&\fIModern Perl\fR: <http://onyxneon.com/books/modern_perl/>
.SS "Other interesting, non-Perl books"
.IX Subsection "Other interesting, non-Perl books"
You might notice several familiar Perl concepts in this collection of
ACM columns from Jon Bentley. The similarity to the title of the major
Perl book (which came later) is not completely accidental:
.IP "\fIProgramming Pearls\fR" 4
.IX Item "Programming Pearls"
.Vb 2
\& by Jon Bentley
\& ISBN 978\-0\-201\-65788\-3 [2 edition, October 1999]
.Ve
.IP "\fIMore Programming Pearls\fR" 4
.IX Item "More Programming Pearls"
.Vb 2
\& by Jon Bentley
\& ISBN 0\-201\-11889\-0 [January 1988]
.Ve
.SS "A note on freshness"
.IX Subsection "A note on freshness"
Each version of Perl comes with the documentation that was current at
the time of release. This poses a problem for content such as book
lists. There are probably very nice books published after this list
was included in your Perl release, and you can check the latest
released version at <https://perldoc.perl.org/perlbook.html> .
.PP
Some of the books we've listed appear almost ancient in internet
scale, but we've included those books because they still describe the
current way of doing things. Not everything in Perl changes every day.
Many of the beginner-level books, too, go over basic features and
techniques that are still valid today. In general though, we try to
limit this list to books published in the past five years.
.SS "Get your book listed"
.IX Subsection "Get your book listed"
If your Perl book isn't listed and you think it should be, let us know.
<mailto:perl5\-porters@perl.org>