Book Review - Perl Best Practices - reviewed by Shlomi Fish
From Perl
Review: Perl Best Practices
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/covers/0596001738_cat.gif
Author: Damian Conway
Publisher: O'Reilly and Associates
ISBN: 0-596-00173-8
Publishing Date: July 2005
Pages: 542
Reviewer: Shlomi Fish
Review Date: October 2006
Rating: 10/10
Review Body
Once upon a time, someone I talked with on IRC suggested I create and publicise a wishlist on Amazon.com so people can buy me gifts. I did so, and after a few months someone ordered me both this book and the book "The Princess Bride" (which I have yet to read).
"Perl Best Practices" generated a lot of buzz in the Perl world, and so I had some good expectations. And happily the book has indeed fulfilled them. Perl Best Practices enumerates and explains the practice and rationale behind 256 best practices of Perl, that according to the author will result in better, more maintainable code.
I naturally didn't fully agree with everything that was suggested, but even so found it as a good food for thought. The book is highly recommended for anyone to read and become a better and more self-conscious Perl programmer.
After speaking with the guy who bought me this book on email he gave another best practice that was absent (and not-practiced) from the book: sort your pattern modifiers alphabetically (I.e: /egix instead of /gxie so they can later be searched for.
