Learning Perl
Learning Perl by Schwartz and Christiansenby Schwartz and Christiansen
Shares rank 38 of 115 programming books by recommenders
Recommended as one of the greatest introductory programming books, thorough and intelligently written, and a staple for learning Perl.
Recommended as one of the greatest introductory programming books, thorough and intelligently written, and a staple for learning Perl.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Among the greatest intro programming books
“Learning Perl is easily one of the greatest introductory programming books”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Tell HN: Merry Christmas!” Thorough and intelligently written
“the course book was throrough and intelligently written”
Comment from 20 Nov 2025 in “What Killed Perl?” Essential Perl learning in the 90s
“Anyone serious about learning perl in the 90's had at least one of the Camel or Llama books.”
Comment from 19 Nov 2025 in “What Killed Perl?” Shows how people thought about computing
“if it's well-written it gives a glimpse into how people thought about technology/code/computers at that point in time”
Comment from 26 May 2026 in “Nobody cracks open a programming book anymore”
Other programming books people recommend
The four most recommended other programming books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crafting Interpretersby Robert Nystrom | 60 | 4 | 94% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Clean Codeby Robert C. Martin | 31 | 87 | 26% | 9 | — | — |
| The Pragmatic Programmerby Hunt and Thomas | 28 | 1 | 97% | 7 | — | Approved |
| How to Design Programsby Felleisen, Findler, Flatt and Krishnamurthi | 18 | 2 | 90% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Learning Perlby Schwartz and ChristiansenThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“if it's well-written it gives a glimpse into how people thought about technology/code/computers at that point in time”
“Learning Perl is easily one of the greatest introductory programming books”
“the course book was throrough and intelligently written”
“Anyone serious about learning perl in the 90's had at least one of the Camel or Llama books.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.