# Learning Perl by Schwartz and Christiansen

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Learning Perl by Schwartz and Christiansen and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as one of the greatest introductory programming books, thorough and intelligently written, and a staple for learning Perl.

## Why people recommend it

- Among the greatest intro programming books (1 comments): "Learning Perl is easily one of the greatest introductory programming books" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46393096))
- Thorough and intelligently written (1 comments): "the course book was throrough and intelligently written" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45998124))
- Essential Perl learning in the 90s (1 comments): "Anyone serious about learning perl in the 90's had at least one of the Camel or Llama books." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45983970))
- Shows how people thought about computing (1 comments): "if it's well-written it gives a glimpse into how people thought about technology/code/computers at that point in time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48273345))

## 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/1449303587?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781449303587) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Learning Perl by Schwartz and Christiansen", https://hackerapproved.com/p/learning-perl/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).