Programming Perl
Programming Perl by Wall, Christiansen and Orwantby Wall, Christiansen and Orwant
Shares rank 30 of 115 programming books by recommenders
People recommend it as an insightful, witty classic that stays useful as a desk reference, even for readers who never write Perl.
People recommend it as an insightful, witty classic that stays useful as a desk reference, even for readers who never write Perl.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, 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
Insightful, useful even beyond Perl
“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.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “Perl's decline was cultural” “The three great virtues of a programmer were enlightening for a fresh-outta-college beginner.”
Comment from 16 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What is the most career altering course or book you have gone through?” Witty style and footnotes
“I laughed out loud at footnotes in the Camel book”
Comment from 26 May 2026 in “Nobody cracks open a programming book anymore” “I was also drawn to the style of the Camel Book.”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Perlsecret – Perl secret operators and constants” Classic desk reference for Perl learners
“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?” “never even made it back to my bookshelf because they just always sat open on my desk”
Comment from 7 Mar 2026 in “Labor Market Impacts of AI”
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 |
| Programming Perlby Wall, Christiansen and OrwantThis page | 6 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
All 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The three great virtues of a programmer were enlightening for a fresh-outta-college beginner.”
“I laughed out loud at footnotes in the Camel book”
“never even made it back to my bookshelf because they just always sat open on my desk”
“I was also drawn to the style of the Camel Book.”
“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.”
“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.