Amazon.com (ISBN 0764537504, Paperback)

The standard for Perl books is, of course, Perl founder Larry Wall's Programming Perl. But every journey requires a first step, and the assumption that everyone interested in learning Perl has a programmer's background can make other Perl books inaccessible to the absolute beginner. Enter Perl for Dummies, a book that presumes that the reader wants to know only how to master the mechanics of Perl.

Just because it starts at the beginning--and we're talking about the very basics--doesn't mean that Perl for Dummies doesn't head into more advanced topics. Paul Hoffman explains the programming terminology and mathematical concepts that programming in Perl requires. He also moves beyond basic file manipulation, discussing pattern matching and using regular expressions. He touches on good Perl style, as well as object-oriented Perl.

He's not averse to criticizing what he perceives as Perl's shortcomings, but he also counters with a section called "10 Reasons Why Perl Is Better Than Java." Hoffman takes great pride in demystifying Perl--a goal that fits in well with Larry Wall's own philosophy of promoting Perl's accessibility. As a way into the "duct tape" programming language, Perl for Dummies fulfills its mission. --Jennifer Buckendorff