# Programming Perl by Wall, Christiansen and Orwant

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Programming Perl by Wall, Christiansen and Orwant and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as an insightful, witty classic that stays useful as a desk reference, even for readers who never write Perl.

## Why people recommend it

- Insightful, useful even beyond Perl (2 comments): "I can highly recommend reading at least the first chapter of Programming Perl, it's highly insightful even if you don't plan to write or read any Perl." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46208093)) "The three great virtues of a programmer were enlightening for a fresh-outta-college beginner." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49730637))
- Witty style and footnotes (2 comments): "I laughed out loud at footnotes in the Camel book" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48281516)) "I was also drawn to the style of the Camel Book." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46595752))
- Classic desk reference for Perl learners (2 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)) "never even made it back to my bookshelf because they just always sat open on my desk" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47286656))

## 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/0596000278?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780596000271) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

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