Perl Best Practices
Perl Best Practices by Damian Conwayby Damian Conway
Shares rank 71 of 115 programming books by recommenders
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.
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.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 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: not 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
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 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
Useful general programming lessons beyond Perl
“Ignore the Perl specific bits and Conway's "Perl Best Practices" is one of the best general programming books ever written.”
Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Perl's decline was cultural” Wish they had read it earlier
“I deeply regret not encountering Perl Best Practices when it came out.”
Comment from 19 Nov 2025 in “What Killed Perl?” Available as paperback and online
“Both can be had as paperbacks, and I think both are also available free on online.”
Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Perl's decline was cultural”
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 |
| Perl Best Practicesby Damian ConwayThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Ignore the Perl specific bits and Conway's "Perl Best Practices" is one of the best general programming books ever written.”
“Both can be had as paperbacks, and I think both are also available free on online.”
“I deeply regret not encountering Perl Best Practices when it came out.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.