Excellent transition from 'Llama' Book

This book provides a introduction many advanced topics in Perl Programming, such as referencing, eval, Object-Oriented Programming and so on. The topics are quite varied and the chapters are brief and not too verbose. I really think this format is helpful for new Perl Programmers, especially those without a strong programming background, who aren't familiar with these concepts.

I really like the author's easy-going, no-nonsense style. He will tell you how something works without too much technical terminology, and also will admit when another language is better suited for something.

Readers who find Larry Wall's "Programming Perl" book difficult to understand will find this book refreshing. It provides a good introduction to advanced topics, and if the reader is interested they can read more detailed books such as the afore-mentioned "Programming Perl". This book is a definitely must-read for intermediate Perl Programmers.

A real outdated masterpiece that may not appeal to everyone

     This is, as the title implies, a book for advanced programmers. You are not supposed to be reading it until "Learning Perl" seems really basic to you and when you are ready to make the progression from browsing "Programming Perl" (the Camel book) -a reference guide to ALL of Perl- to writing a real & complex application. This book serves then as an introduction to several complex topics (DBI, data structures, Tk, OO, & Perl C internals) and gives a better explanation in some areas where the Camel book falls short or becomes too complex (here the explanations are better, but don't expect full tutorials from A to Z). I warn you. It is the perfect companion to introduce you to a new subject while reading the online docs or other. You also might want to browse thru it if you are an experienced programmer with other scripting languages like TCL, Java or Python, since the comparisons at the end of each chapter is really excellent. As anything that was once considered advanced (and therefore, cutting edge), the book has aged. Things like the persistent data manipulation module presented in the book have since been improved upon by newer ones. Some of the TCL comparisons are not entirely fair anymore (although mostly still correct). Tom Christiansen's perltoot for OO included with Perl is a much better and thorough introduction than the one offered here. Also, if you are the type of programmer that reads every single little piece of documentation that comes with Perl, then well, you won't find anything new here --but some concepts that could have been unclear might be clarified here (the ideas presented are still correct, even if some of the code is not anymore).

A real treasure.

     This book goes beyond being one of my favorite programming books into the realm of one of my favorite books on any subject. The title is perhaps unfortunate because it kept me away from this book for far too long. This is certainly not a book to try to learn perl from, nor is it likely to please the object oriented purist, but for someone who is actively using perl (or involved in any sort of programming), this book will show you some new ways to approach problems. It is not a exhaustive reference manual on perl, but rather it is a collection of essays on various advanced topics including OO programming (in the perl style), C/perl interfacing, and the use of various unique perl features.

Srinivasan has a very lucid and pleasant writing style, and this is a major part of the books appeal. I heartily recommend it.