Customer Rating: 
Summary: Excellent introduction
Comment: The substantially re-written 3rd edition has finally bridged the gap from "an introduction to Perl for programmers" to "a truly excellent introductory text."
The reason is that this edition doesn't just rattle off 'computerese' words without explanations as the earlier editions did, but really does a great job in explaining terms covered more thoroughly with well thought out explanations and examples. Granted you will not understand every single thing in the book the first time through, but you will program in Perl quite well.
One of the great points of the book is that it does have some depth and very useful insights, that as you comb through this book a second time, you will glean some real gems. You also will find the nice index make this book a reference for the "New Perl Programmer."
The true green, non-tech newbie, may try books like Sam's "Teaching yourself Perl in 24 hours" or "Elements of programming with PERL" but will soon find himself dropping those off at the used bookstore in preference to the O'reillys.
Customer Rating:
Summary: my favorite teaching book
Comment: Learning Perl is a great reference text, not just for learning. Of course, if you already know Perl inside and out, you won't want this book. However, if you are a beginner, you can use this book to teach yourself Perl and then keep using it after you are experienced. The writing style is far from dry, and at times is downright witty. The examples are short and sweet, no piling on of so much code that you forget what the example is supposed to show.There are a few reasons why this book is always on my desk. I code in several languages, so I often need a reminder of syntax. Rather than open a thick reference book, I just go to one of Learning Perl’s dog-eared pages on the subject. The authors seem to anticipate common questions that you might have asked if you were just reading a language definition. You can easily carry with you this small, manageable book. I use this book in conjunction with the Perl Cookbook, also by O’Reilly.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: For the beginner only?
Comment: Some reviewers have said that this book is for newbies only, and I have made that assertion myself. I've recently rethought that assertion. I would recommend this book for any programmer coming from another language to perl. Learning Perl takes common programming idioms and expresses them in "perlish" terms. I've learned when training folks to use perl, to send them to the llama book first, then the camel, then the ram. (Learning Perl, Programming Perl, Perl Cookbook). The book is full of examples, but unlike most programming books, it's readable. In true O'Reilly style the book is informative and fun. It's great, and I highly recommend it for anyone learning programming, or learning perl for the first time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good book, but lots of patience required
Comment: Randal Schwartz's "Learning Perl" is an excellent book for those who want to learn the Perl language. "Learning Perl" covers the basics of programming in Perl through 17 chapters, each averaging 20 or so pages with practice exercises at the end of each chapter. While Schwartz claims a novice could learn from the book, I had to re-read several passages and chapters before I fully comprehended his ideas. Tinkering with some Perl code and writing some experimental programs with the book in hand is a must.I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about learning Perl and who has some experience in Unix and/or another programming language. I was a complete novice to both Unix and the basic concepts of programming when I bought the book. It took me the whole night to figure out how to execute a simple "Hello, world!" program on Mac OS X. After nailing down the basics of Unix through trial and error, however, I was able to execute more programs flawlessly. Assess your abilities and your commitment honestly before making the purchase. Good luck!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Finally, a programming book I can learn from!!
Comment: For the last couple years I have aimlessly wandered from one perl book to another and gotten nowhere. Not being a programmer many of the books were just too hard to follow or intoduced too many concepts at one time in a way that made absolutlely no sense. But today, I picked up the llama book and that all changed. After only a couple hours, I had already written some useful (very simple) programs without, and I repeat without having to refer back to the book. Not only that, I cannot wait to read the next chapter, I am totally jazzed. Thank you Randal L. Schwartz.
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