Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Perl Programming

Higher-Order Perl Available For Free Download 68

Christopher Cashell writes "As noted on Perlbuzz, Mark Jason Dominus's amazing book, Higher-Order Perl, is now available for free download. This is a great book that goes way beyond your normal programming reference. This will change the way you look at programs, and make you a better programmer in any language. It sits on that special shelf reserved for books like Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, The C Programming Language, and The Practice of Programming."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Higher-Order Perl Available For Free Download

Comments Filter:
  • amazing (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gizmo_mathboy ( 43426 ) on Tuesday December 09, 2008 @08:10PM (#26053685)

    It is truly awesome that mjd is making this available for free.

    It's still worth buying the dead tree version, though.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Basilius ( 184226 )

      Particularly since the links on the site go to Powell's.

      Powell's is freaking cool. And independent, if you care about such things. (And, for that matter, even if you don't.

  • Higher-Order Perl, is now available for free download. This is a great book that goes way beyond your normal programming reference. This will change the way you look at programs, and make you a better programmer in any language. It sits on that special shelf reserved for books like Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, The C Programming Language, and The Practice of Programming."

    Funny, I would have thought it sat on a hard drive or a usb key or something ...

    "You have downloads on my bookshe

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by dfay ( 75405 )

      Nope, sorry -unlike peanut butter and chocolate, downloads don't mix with bookshelves.

      Interestingly, they can both be measured in the same units. (meaning Libraries of Congress, of course.)

    • by cromar ( 1103585 )
      Sir or madam, I would like to introduce you to the concept of metaphor :)

      metaphor (noun) - a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable / a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, esp. something abstract. The Oxford American Dictionary

      • They give the book away for free, but neglect to mention the metaphorical bookshelf you need to sit it on?

        A clever ruse, and the fools almost got away with it. But they failed to realize that Slashdot has a Sicilian in it's ranks!

        • Actually, they sell the book in the dead tree form that would sit on the book shelf.

          This story is about them giving that book away free of charge in electronic form.

        • by stjobe ( 78285 )

          they failed to realize that Slashdot has a Sicilian in it's ranks!

          And you never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line! That's almost as big a blunder as getting involved in a land war in Asia!

    • There is a print version too! And even if it didn't, you can burn a cd with the book and place it a the shelf!
    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Funny, I would have thought it sat on a hard drive or a usb key or something ...

      "You have downloads on my bookshelf!"
      "You have bookshelves on my downloads!"

      Nope, sorry -unlike peanut butter and chocolate, downloads don't mix with bookshelves.

      Thankfully, there are many devices in this nice modern day and age that can convert downloads into books, and likewise, there are devices that can take books and turn them into downloads. I think someone created a whole movement around the former device when he couldn't

  • Lorrie (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    He dedicated his book to a truck?

  • I just got this book from the library for the first time two weeks ago. I'm pleased that I will only have to have checked it out once.

    Kudos and thanks, mjd.

  • by cjfs ( 1253208 ) on Tuesday December 09, 2008 @09:11PM (#26054219) Homepage Journal

    He's just welcoming our new Zombie Overlords [perlmonks.org]

    .

  • All programs written in higher-order perl start with the following line:
    #!/usr/bong/perl
  • Perl Jobs (Score:2, Informative)

    Thank you for the link, I am downloading the book and I will probably pour over it on my Christmas break. I don't think Perl is dead, there are jobs in my city with some high profile companies that need Perl developers. Just my two cents. I am not sure about other cities though.
    • Re:Perl Jobs (Score:4, Informative)

      by Wee ( 17189 ) on Tuesday December 09, 2008 @10:41PM (#26054805)

      Perl has, in some small way, kept me continuously employed for the last 14 years. It's really pretty surprising the utility and longevity it has.

      -B

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by jonadab ( 583620 )
      Perl is also very useful in a lot of jobs that don't list "Perl" specifically in the job description. I don't know how a network administrator could survive without it, for instance. You'd constantly find yourself spending hours to do a ten-minute job.
  • too late (Score:3, Funny)

    by museumpeace ( 735109 ) on Tuesday December 09, 2008 @10:16PM (#26054625) Journal
    I bought the book quite a while back. And I wouldn't expect them to publish it with the title it should have: how to write perl so well you look like you are using python.
  • I run a web site that catalogs free books and accepts user-submitted reviews (see my sig). Reviews of this book would be welcome.

    I read a couple of chapters online, and it seemed pretty cool. I'm interested in learning FP techniques, and it was really nice to be able to learn about techniques like memoization in the context of a language whose syntax I already know. I can glance through the code examples and say, "Aha, I get it!" instead of laboriously poring over code listings in lisp or haskell and say

    • by jim3e8 ( 458859 )

      First of all, Perl is the ultimate syntax hurdle, and I say this as a fan of Perl.

      Second, if you're interested in functional programming, don't shy away from the languages you mention. Neither Common Lisp nor Scheme is particularly difficult (especially Scheme, whose syntax is almost nonexistent) and neither is purely functional.

      Finally, read SICP [mit.edu].

      • First of all, Perl is the ultimate syntax hurdle, and I say this as a fan of Perl.

        If you speak Greek, English is the ultimate syntax hurdle. And vice versa if you speak English.

    • by jbolden ( 176878 )

      Higher Order Perl is a great way to wet the appetite for FP and learn a few of the major ideas. But it seems like your appetite is already wet you have been just trying books / lessons that are too hard. An easy Haskell book is Thompson's and you can get the first edition [amazon.com] cheap. Thompson will work you through the basic syntax enough to do one of the good books.

  • Yeah but "Nailing Jelly To A Tree" is still on my highest bookshelf.
  • by gbjbaanb ( 229885 ) on Wednesday December 10, 2008 @11:20AM (#26060457)

    From TFA:

    You may remember I wanted to turn the book into a wiki. That would have been awesome. But the book's fourth anniversary is coming up this spring and I have to admit to myself that I'm not gonna get the wiki together. So I'm posting the thing already.

    So, perhaps if he put a bare wiki up, everyone could c&p a page at a time?

Numeric stability is probably not all that important when you're guessing.

Working...