Programming Perl, 2nd ed.
by Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, Randal L. Schwartz

O'Reilly and Associates (Sebastopol, California): October 1996. Trade Paperback: 670 pages. ISBN-10: 1-56592-149-6 Suggested retail price: $39.95 (US) Tag: Computing Tactical strength: [8/10]

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Programming Perl is the authoritative work on using the Perl language, which you would expect since Larry Wall, the inventor of Perl, is one of the authors. This second edition covers every aspect of using Perl 5. For example, chapter 2, "The Gory Details," clearly describes the syntax and semantics of Perl. Other chapters describe with equal clarity how to use functions, how to create data structures, and how to use Perl's object-oriented features. To quote a cliche: If you only buy one Perl book, this book should be the one.