Learning Perl, Fourth (4th) Edition

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by: Randal L. Schwartz, Tom Phoenix, Brian D Foy

On-line Price: $59.95 (includes GST) Paperback package 304 20%Off Retail Price You save: $15.00 _____________________ N.Sydney : In Stock	Retail Price: $74.95 Publisher: O'REILLY,30.7.2005 Category: PERL Level: ISBN: 0596101058 ISBN13: 9780596101053
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Full Description
Learning Perl, better known as 'the Llama book', starts the programmer on the way to mastery. Written by three prominent members of the Perl community who each have several years of experience teaching Perl around the world, this latest edition has been updated to account for all the recent changes to the language up to Perl 5.8.

Perl is the language for people who want to get work done. It started as a tool for UNIX system administrators who needed something powerful for small tasks. Since then, Perl has blossomed into a full-featured programming language used for web programming, database manipulation, XML processing, and system administration--on practically all platforms--while remaining the favorite tool for the small daily tasks it was designed for. You might start using Perl because you need it, but you'll continue to use it because you love it.

Informed by their years of success at teaching Perl as consultants, the authors have re-engineered the Llama to better match the pace and scope appropriate for readers getting started with Perl, while retaining the detailed discussion, thorough examples, and eclectic wit for which the Llama is famous.

The book includes new exercises and solutions so you can practice what you've learned while it's still fresh in your mind. Here are just some of the topics covered:

data structures

minimal matching

threading

data parsing

references

objects

modules

package implementation

If you ask Perl programmers today what book they relied on most when they were learning Perl, you'll find that an overwhelming majority will point to the Llama. With good reason. Other books may teach you to program in Perl, but this book will turn you into a Perl programmer.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Introduction

      Questions and Answers

      What Does 'Perl' Stand For?

      How Can I Get Perl?

      How Do I Make a Perl Program?

      A Whirlwind Tour of Perl

      Exercises
2. Scalar Data

      Numbers

      Strings

      Perl's Built-in Warnings

      Scalar Variables

      Output with print

      The if Control Structure

      Getting User Input

      The chomp Operator

      The while Control Structure

      The undef Value

      The defined Function

      Exercises
3. Lists and Arrays

      Accessing Elements of an Array

      Special Array Indices

      List Literals

      List Assignment

      Interpolating Arrays into Strings

      The foreach Control Structure

      Scalar and List Context

       in List Context

      Exercises
4. Subroutines

      Defining a Subroutine

      Invoking a Subroutine

      Return Values

      Arguments

      Private Variables in Subroutines

      Variable-Length Parameter Lists

      Notes on Lexical (my) Variables

      The use strict Pragma

      The return Operator

      Non-Scalar Return Values

      Exercises
5. Input and Output

      Input from Standard Input

      Input from the Diamond Operator

      The Invocation Arguments

      Output to Standard Output

      Formatted Output with printf

      Filehandles

      Opening a Filehandle

      Fatal Errors with die

      Using Filehandles

      Reopening a Standard Filehandle

      Exercises
6. Hashes

      What Is a Hash?

      Hash Element Access

      Hash Functions

      Typical Use of a Hash

      Exercises
7. In the World of Regular Expressions

      What Are Regular Expressions?

      Using Simple Patterns

      Character Classes

      Exercises
8. Matching with Regular Expressions

      Matches with m//

      Option Modifiers

      Anchors

      The Binding Operator, =~

      Interpolating into Patterns

      The Match Variables

      General Quantifiers

      Precedence

      A Pattern Test Program

      Exercises
9. Processing Text with Regular Expressions

      Substitutions with s///

      The split Operator

      The join Function

      m// in List Context

      More Powerful Regular Expressions

      Exercises
10. More Control Structures

      The unless Control Structure

      The until Control Structure

      Expression Modifiers

      The Naked Block Control Structure

      The elsif Clause

      Autoincrement and Autodecrement

      The for Control Structure

      Loop Controls

      Logical Operators

      Exercise
11. File Tests

      File Test Operators

      The stat and lstat Functions

      The localtime Function

      Bitwise Operators

      Using the Special Underscore Filehandle

      Exercises
12. Directory Operations

      Moving Around the Directory Tree

      Globbing

      An Alternate Syntax for Globbing

      Directory Handles

      Recursive Directory Listing

      Manipulating Files and Directories

      Removing Files

      Renaming Files

      Links and Files

      Making and Removing Directories

      Modifying Permissions

      Changing Ownership

      Changing Timestamps

      Exercises
13. Strings and Sorting

      Finding a Substring with index

      Manipulating a Substring with substr

      Formatting Data with sprintf

      Advanced Sorting

      Exercises
14. Process Management

      The system Function

      The exec Function

      The Environment Variables

      Using Backquotes to Capture Output

      Processes as Filehandles

      Getting Down and Dirty with fork

      Sending and Receiving Signals

      Exercises
15. Perl Modules

      Finding Modules

      Installing Modules

      Using Simple Modules

      Exercise
16. Some Advanced Perl Techniques

      Trapping Errors with eval

      Picking Items from a List with grep

      Transforming Items from a List with map

      Unquoted Hash Keys

      Slices

      Exercise
A. Exercise Answers
B. Beyond the Llama
Index