Product Description
This book contains everything you need to learn how touse MacPerl; with foreword by Matthias Neeracher, the author ofMacPerl. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

20 pages at the most
This book touches on several subjects without really explaining very many of them. Perhaps written by persons better able to write code than books, the syntax is overly loose and informal. The really useful data in this book would fit about 20 pages. The rest is teaser and fluff, the beginning of an idea without the essence. MacPerl is a wonderful, free tool for the Macintosh, but this book is not worth the price of admission.

To sum it all up, its a hack job and a frustrating read.

It needs work
I'm glad this book was written because I love the Mac OS and want to see Perl developed on it. However, this book is not easy to use. It's clear that the authors do know what they're talking about, but they're not greatat conveying lessons to the reader. Some script examples can be confusingto walk through when the authors say stuff like "Let's add this lineto the script we've been writing" without telling you where in thescript to add it, or what to line to replace.It seems as if they're soexcited about the subject of the book that they fail to stick to repetetiveteaching conventions (which I personally find very helpful with programmingbooks. I'm sure not everyone does. Call me dry.) I plan to finish thisbook, but I actually found my C++ books easier to read, and that can't bebecuase C++ is easier. I think with some revision, this book could be agreat staple for Perl programming on the Mac. Namely: Pick a lesson formatand stick with it. Don't just wander through the features of Perl. Stillglad they wrote it, though. Viva the Mac OS. If you're an absolutebeginner, buy this book if you're prepared to re-read sections. If you'resomewhat experienced, this book will probably prove quite useful to you.

MacPerl might as well be Greek
This book is poorly organized and very difficult to read. The authors write in a misleadingly friendly style peppered with lots of happy little exlaimation marks and supposedly literate quotes from somebody's book of quotations. But when it comes to actually explaining their topic, they fallshort. MacPerl Power and Ease is not easy to read. It doesn't even makesense most of the way. I've had to go through it several times, makingcopious notes and drawing diagrams trying to get this stuff into my head.There must be a better way to teach programming than this! The best thingabout the book is the CD, which has some very interesting freebies. Butdon't follow the author's directions as to what's on the CD because they'lljust confuse you more.

I'm not aware of a better book for Perl users, butthis is not one I'd recommend to an inexperienced person like myself.Though I've mastered almost any kind of program in desktop publishing,multimedia and web publishing, I'm still struggling with Perl.

All Ireally wanted to know was how to make CGI scripts. I'm poorer, fartherbehind in my regular work than I should be and I'm still wondering if I'llever understand this language.

Bottom line: if you're an amateur lookingto learn how to program, hire a geek or go to school, but don't expect tolearn it from this book!

Buy it!
I could not put this book down, it made perl SO EASY, I highly recomend this book. It deserves 10 stars.

Excellent book! Highly recommended!
This book was an excellent introduction to Perl and to using Perl on theMac. Anyone that has a Mac and has an interest in making their Mac morepowerful needs this book. The only beef I have with it is that it should beless ease and more power... it needs more of the advanced Perl informationas well as more examples, but these are both small considerations when yousee how awesome this book is. ... Read more