# Perl Best Practices by Damian Conway

3 Hacker News commenters recommended Perl Best Practices by Damian Conway and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as one of the best general programming books, even for readers who skip the Perl-specific parts. No recurring criticism appears in the quotes.

## Why people recommend it

- Useful general programming lessons beyond Perl (1 comments): "Ignore the Perl specific bits and Conway's "Perl Best Practices" is one of the best general programming books ever written." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46177360))
- Wish they had read it earlier (1 comments): "I deeply regret not encountering Perl Best Practices when it came out." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45980126))
- Available as paperback and online (1 comments): "Both can be had as paperbacks, and I think both are also available free on online." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46176220))

## 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/0596001738?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780596001735) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Perl Best Practices by Damian Conway", https://hackerapproved.com/p/perl-best-practices/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).