Cross-Platform Perl, Second Edition

You can benefit from this book in at least two ways: first, via a remarkably understandable tutorial for basic Perl, from basic syntax and language features (plus a nice explanation of regular expressions, which can be daunting for beginners); second, there's a focus on powerful Perl modules (freely downloadable from CPAN and elsewhere), and simple code that shows how to use them for common tasks, like launching and controlling applications, system administration, and basic Web development. Better yet, Cross-Platform Perl shows how to do this under both Windows and Unix/Linux.

Later chapters explain the use of Perl on the Internet, with a tutorial for CGI and Web scripts, as well as excellent material on XML. Short, effective code examples are the rule, although several later chapters provide longer samples. The text closes with how to build client/server socket-based network programs, and a quick introduction to graphical user interfaces that are built with Perl/Tk. The exceptionally clear writing style makes the whole book even more accessible and a pleasure to read.

Whether you're a system administrator or an aspiring Perl developer, Cross-Platform Perl, 2nd Edition shows you some of the best ways to use Perl on both Windows and Unix. This is a smart and extremely approachable book that'll teach you how to use Perl effectively for a wide variety of common computing tasks. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

• Perl basics and language tutorial
• Scripts
• Variables
• Arrays
• Associative arrays
• Flow control
• File I/O with Perl
• Pattern matching and regular expressions
• Perl for formatted text database reports
• Overview of Perl modules and CPAN
• Launching and automating applications on Windows and Unix
• System administration on Windows and Unix
• CGI and Web development tutorial with Perl (including using HTML forms)
• Perl and XML
• Perl for software developers (automating software builds, version control, documentation)
• Building IP-based network servers and clients in Perl (including FTP support)
• Perl/Tk for building graphical user interfaces

O'Reilly is great if you know the name of the function you want. I find Cross-Platform Perl to be better when you know _what_ you want to do, but can't remember the functions that do it. Titles of chapters are (or were) user-friendly like "Working with Files" or "Launching Applications". O'Reilly has chapters like "References", "Data Structures", "Objects" and my favorite "Functions" (which has 200+ pages of, you guessed it, Perl Functions).

Get this book if you're new to Perl - you won't outgrow it.


Great Book for beginners   April 25, 2000
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

If you want to LEARN Perl, this is the book for you. If you know Perl and want a more in depth discussion or a good all-purpose reference, get something else.

But, as I said, if you want to learn Perl and don't know it yet, get this book. You will use and use and use this book!


Loved it!   June 10, 1999
If your looking to start learning Perl, this is the book to have. I didn't know anything about Perl when I started and this book got me going quick. I often refer back to it as a reference and I'm starting to wear down the book binder.


A good introduction, but only adequate in-depth Perl Win32   February 21, 1999
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This is a good introductory Perl book, with logical treatments for basic Perl commands. With the "cross-platform" in the title, however, I would expect more in-depth discussion about how things (complicated things) can be done in Perl Win32, such as multithreading.


This book is Nice for the Perl Beginner   January 18, 1999
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

As a new person to the World of Perl, I selected this book as a good way to learn PERL across both NT and Unix Systems. I was impressed with the books coverage of the basic elements of PERL, but disappointed in the lack of real world solutions. This book is a good beginner for the budding Perl Developer, but it falls short for the Perl folks that really want to do some heavy stuff.