[Chicago-talk] Best of the Perl Journal Review

[Shawn C Carroll]

Book Title: Best of the Perl Journal: Games, Diversions & Perl Culture
Authors: Compiled by Jon Orwant
Publisher: O’Reilly
Pages: 569 with index
Website: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/tpj3/
Reviewer: Shawn C. Carroll

Synopsis: The Perl Journal ran for 20 issues in its first incarnation. 
These issues included some of the funniest, interesting, and informative
articles of the Perl community.  Jon Orwant has poured through the 247
articles and narrowed it down to 47 articles that really show the lighter
side of perl and the community.

Review:
While not a subscriber of The Perl Journal, I picked it up when I saw it
at the newsstand.  I usually read it cover to cover before I got it home,
enjoying the variety of articles and writers.  Some were instructive,
while others were witty, and some were inspiring in how they showed perl
could be used in everyday life.  After twenty issues, TPJ changed
publishers, and some say changed focus.  O’Reilly has decided to publish
articles for the first run of TPJ in a Best of The Perl Journal series of
books.  The third tome in this series focuses on the lighter side of perl
with games, one liners, and even some quizzes.

The book has forty-seven chapters separated into seven sections.
Discussing such wide ranging topics from Science to Politics, Poetry to
Games, the book does cover perl deeply and widely.  The articles and
sections are well selected and fit together.  The one complaint I did have
was the inclusion of the Perl/Internet Quiz Show questions and answers.

This resource is a nice review of the lighter side of perl.  At US$40,
this book is not cheap, but it is worth it if you do not have the original
magazines.  Some of the articles are dated, but that is to be expected.

-- 
Shawn Carroll
shawn at owbn.org
Perl Programmer
Soccer Referee