# Programming Perl by Larry Wall

2 Hacker News commenters recommended Programming Perl by Larry Wall and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a way to learn Perl from zero background and as a window into how Perl was written in its era.

## Why people recommend it

- Teaches Perl from zero background (1 comments): "I was able to teach myself from the Camel book with absolutely zero background" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45984564))
- Shows how Perl was used (1 comments): "You can have a flip through the camel book to see what kind of stunts were common in its era." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46175941))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Crafting Interpreters by Robert Nystrom](https://hackerapproved.com/p/crafting-interpreters.md): 60 recommend
- [Clean Code by Robert C. Martin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/clean-code.md): 31 recommend
- [The Pragmatic Programmer by Hunt and Thomas](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pragmatic-programmer.md): 28 recommend
- [How to Design Programs by Felleisen, Findler, Flatt and Krishnamurthi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/how-to-design-programs.md): 18 recommend
- [Mastering Emacs by Mickey Petersen](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mastering-emacs.md): 17 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061173495?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780061173493) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Programming Perl by Larry Wall", https://hackerapproved.com/p/camel-book/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).