Wanna learn Perl? Huh? Do ya, do ya, do ya? Sorry. When I started thinking about writing this review, I had a Dory moment. The question (such as it is) still stands, though. Do you want to learn Perl? If you do you've come to the right place...maybe. Let me explain.
Usually, the "Learning" series from O'Reilly is written for the beginner (of whatever topic is being covered) with little or not prior experience in the technology. That's true of the Schwartz/Phoenix/Foy book as well, but as it says in the intro, "Perl is easy to use but hard to learn". My suggestion for potential readers of this book is to have at least one other programming language under your belt before tackling Perl. A grounding in just about any other language will give you a general understanding of programming principles and give you a leg up in learning Perl.
This is the 5th edition of this book and the prior editions, by and large, have been quite successful, both in terms of the stated goal (teaching people how to use Perl) and, of course, selling well (which I imagine goes hand in hand). So why a new book? This is technology, remember? Time and newer versions march on and Perl is no exception. The 4th edition was current up to Perl 5.8 and the most recent edition (for now) is current up to Perl 5.10. Is that really so important? That is, if you shelled out your hard earned dough and bought the 2005 book (because it can be had for less than $7.00 online used, depending on where you buy it from), would it make that much difference?
What's new in Perl 5.10? Frankly, that's the reason to buy the 5th edition. If you are just noodling around with Perl for your own amusement, I suppose it won't matter much. If you are trying to keep current as a programmer or are a programmer-in-training, and you are building a career on your skill sets, knowing the latest and greatest is what it's all about. That's true whether you're encountering Perl (or for that matter, programming) for the first time, or if you have been coding in Perl for years. It's also true if you've been coding for years but are just getting around to learning Perl. Like I said...what's new in Perl 5.10?
According to dev.perl.org, "the most exciting change is the new smart match operator. It implements a new kind of comparison, the specifics of which are contextual based on the inputs to the operator". Did you get that? It's not the only addition relative to 5.10, but as the quote indicates, it's significant. If your reaction was "Oh how cool...I need to check that out", you need to buy this book. If your reaction was, "What the heck is that? Never heard about it before," and you intend to learn/use Perl 5.10, you need to buy this book.
That's really the secret of books that have been around awhile, have been successful, and are accruing in edition numbers. The parts of the book where the technology hasn't changed, won't appreciably change from edition to edition, so don't expect a work that's been completely retooled. You wouldn't find that in a book like this unless the entire Perl language was completely retooled for 5.10 (and that didn't happen). What you should look for (and will find here) are the portions that did change. Of course, if you are just getting into Perl, you may not notice. If you are experienced in Perl, quite frankly, you probably already know what's changed or know where to find that info on the web. A more advanced Perl would would be appropriate for the Perl guru's needs...not this book.
If, on the other hand, you are just learning Perl, or perhaps have some, but not a lot of experience with the language, and you need to ramp up, this is the book for you. Another cautionary note: this book won't teach you all there is to know about Perl. One of the reasons, is that Perl is vast in it's potential. No one resource (sorry, not even this book) will teach you all you need to know. The intro is very clear on this point. Also, you only get out of a learning experience what you put into it, so don't expect to hold this book up to your forehead and immediately start learning. You actually have to read it, study it, and yes, practice the language.
All that said, this is the latest edition in what has become something of a classic by O'Reilly. As I said, Perl's not the easiest language to learn, but is it highly adaptable. It's also got a built in "cool" factor that a lot of other languages seem to lack. Maybe it's the camel (though the cover animal on this book has always been a Llama), I don't know. Wanna learn Perl? Wanna learn the lastest incarnation of Perl? If yes, then go to your local bookstore (online or otherwise), and buy it. Have fun.
