X-Git-Url: http://git.shadowcat.co.uk/gitweb/gitweb.cgi?a=blobdiff_plain;f=pod%2Fperlfaq2.pod;h=ee097e25db886dc96c16fef201bb3527024a2747;hb=7b667b5fb1c41f31aff1e46b9f74e36eb063010e;hp=52dc457c8edc43657ef2cd7805ba0b807ade9aee;hpb=8305e449a259649641f455b333f66bc0de7f3b62;p=p5sagit%2Fp5-mst-13.2.git diff --git a/pod/perlfaq2.pod b/pod/perlfaq2.pod index 52dc457..ee097e2 100644 --- a/pod/perlfaq2.pod +++ b/pod/perlfaq2.pod @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ =head1 NAME -perlfaq2 - Obtaining and Learning about Perl ($Revision: 1.2 $, $Date: 2001/10/16 13:27:22 $) +perlfaq2 - Obtaining and Learning about Perl ($Revision: 1.25 $, $Date: 2003/10/16 04:57:38 $) =head1 DESCRIPTION @@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ approaches are doomed to failure. One simple way to check that things are in the right place is to print out the hard-coded @INC that perl looks through for libraries: - % perl -e 'print join("\n",@INC)' + % perl -le 'print for @INC' If this command lists any paths that don't exist on your system, then you may need to move the appropriate libraries to these locations, or create @@ -90,14 +90,14 @@ architecture. =head2 What modules and extensions are available for Perl? What is CPAN? What does CPAN/src/... mean? -CPAN stands for Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, a ~700mb archive +CPAN stands for Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, a ~1.2Gb archive replicated on nearly 200 machines all over the world. CPAN contains source code, non-native ports, documentation, scripts, and many third-party modules and extensions, designed for everything from commercial database interfaces to keyboard/screen control to web walking and CGI scripts. The master web site for CPAN is http://www.cpan.org/ and there is the CPAN Multiplexer at -http://www.perl.com/CPAN/CPAN.html which will choose a mirror near you +http://www.cpan.org/CPAN.html which will choose a mirror near you via DNS. See http://www.perl.com/CPAN (without a slash at the end) for how this process works. Also, http://mirror.cpan.org/ has a nice interface to the http://www.cpan.org/MIRRORED.BY @@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ miscellaneous modules. See http://www.cpan.org/modules/00modlist.long.html or http://search.cpan.org/ for a more complete list of modules by category. +CPAN is not affiliated with O'Reilly and Associates. =head2 Is there an ISO or ANSI certified version of Perl? @@ -166,25 +167,41 @@ assistance: http://perldoc.cpan.org/ http://www.perldoc.com/ - http://reference.perl.com/query.cgi?tutorials http://bookmarks.cpan.org/search.cgi?cat=Training%2FTutorials =head2 What are the Perl newsgroups on Usenet? Where do I post questions? -The now defunct comp.lang.perl newsgroup has been superseded by the -following groups: +Several groups devoted to the Perl language are on Usenet: comp.lang.perl.announce Moderated announcement group - comp.lang.perl.misc Very busy group about Perl in general - comp.lang.perl.moderated Moderated discussion group + comp.lang.perl.misc High traffic general Perl discussion + comp.lang.perl.moderated Moderated discussion group comp.lang.perl.modules Use and development of Perl modules comp.lang.perl.tk Using Tk (and X) from Perl comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi Writing CGI scripts for the Web. -There is also Usenet gateway to the mailing list used by the crack -Perl development team (perl5-porters) at -news://news.perl.com/perl.porters-gw/ . +Some years ago, comp.lang.perl was divided into those groups, and +comp.lang.perl itself officially removed. While that group may still +be found on some news servers, it is unwise to use it, because +postings there will not appear on news servers which honour the +official list of group names. Use comp.lang.perl.misc for topics +which do not have a more-appropriate specific group. + +There is also a Usenet gateway to Perl mailing lists sponsored by +perl.org at nntp://nntp.perl.org , a web interface to the same lists +at http://nntp.perl.org/group/ and these lists are also available +under the C hierarchy at http://groups.google.com . Other +groups are listed at http://lists.perl.org/ ( also known as +http://lists.cpan.org/ ). + +A nice place to ask questions is the PerlMonks site, +http://www.perlmonks.org/ , or the Perl Beginners mailing list +http://lists.perl.org/showlist.cgi?name=beginners . + +Note that none of the above are supposed to write your code for you: +asking questions about particular problems or general advice is fine, +but asking someone to write your code for free is not very cool. =head2 Where should I post source code? @@ -192,12 +209,12 @@ You should post source code to whichever group is most appropriate, but feel free to cross-post to comp.lang.perl.misc. If you want to cross-post to alt.sources, please make sure it follows their posting standards, including setting the Followup-To header line to NOT include alt.sources; -see their FAQ (http://www.faqs.org/faqs/alt-sources-intro/) for details. +see their FAQ ( http://www.faqs.org/faqs/alt-sources-intro/ ) for details. If you're just looking for software, first use Google -(http://www.google.com), Deja (http://www.deja.com), and -CPAN Search (http://search.cpan.org). This is faster and more -productive than just posting a request. +( http://www.google.com ), Google's usenet search interface +( http://groups.google.com ), and CPAN Search ( http://search.cpan.org ). +This is faster and more productive than just posting a request. =head2 Perl Books @@ -222,7 +239,7 @@ of real-world examples, mini-tutorials, and complete programs is: by Tom Christiansen and Nathan Torkington, with Foreword by Larry Wall ISBN 1-56592-243-3 [1st Edition August 1998] - http://perl.oreilly.com/cookbook/ + http://perl.oreilly.com/catalog/cookbook/ If you're already a seasoned programmer, then the Camel Book might suffice for you to learn Perl from. If you're not, check out the @@ -233,6 +250,15 @@ Llama book: ISBN 0-596-00132-0 [3rd edition July 2001] http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lperl3/ +And for more advanced information on writing larger programs, +presented in the same style as the Llama book, continue your education +with the Alpaca book: + + Learning Perl Objects, References, and Modules (the "Alpaca Book") + by Randal L. Schwartz, with Tom Phoenix (foreword by Damian Conway) + ISBN 0-596-00478-8 [1st edition June 2003] + http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lrnperlorm/ + If you're not an accidental programmer, but a more serious and possibly even degreed computer scientist who doesn't need as much hand-holding as we try to provide in the Llama, please check out the @@ -253,8 +279,8 @@ If you are more at home in Windows the following is available ISBN 1-56592-324-3 [1st edition August 1997] http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lperlwin/ -Addison-Wesley (http://www.awlonline.com/) and Manning -(http://www.manning.com/) are also publishers of some fine Perl books +Addison-Wesley ( http://www.awlonline.com/ ) and Manning +( http://www.manning.com/ ) are also publishers of some fine Perl books such as I by Damian Conway and I by Lincoln Stein. @@ -276,12 +302,12 @@ Recommended books on (or mostly on) Perl follow. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/pperl3/ Perl 5 Pocket Reference - by Johan Vromans + by Johan Vromans ISBN 0-596-00032-4 [3rd edition May 2000] http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perlpr3/ Perl in a Nutshell - by Ellen Siever, Stephan Spainhour, and Nathan Patwardhan + by Ellen Siever, Stephan Spainhour, and Nathan Patwardhan ISBN 1-56592-286-7 [1st edition December 1998] http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perlnut/ @@ -289,7 +315,7 @@ Recommended books on (or mostly on) Perl follow. Elements of Programming with Perl by Andrew L. Johnson - ISBN 1884777805 [1st edition October 1999] + ISBN 1-884777-80-5 [1st edition October 1999] http://www.manning.com/Johnson/ Learning Perl @@ -297,6 +323,11 @@ Recommended books on (or mostly on) Perl follow. ISBN 0-596-00132-0 [3rd edition July 2001] http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lperl3/ + Learning Perl Objects, References, and Modules + by Randal L. Schwartz, with Tom Phoenix (foreword by Damian Conway) + ISBN 0-596-00478-8 [1st edition June 2003] + http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lrnperlorm/ + Learning Perl on Win32 Systems by Randal L. Schwartz, Erik Olson, and Tom Christiansen, with foreword by Larry Wall @@ -306,8 +337,8 @@ Recommended books on (or mostly on) Perl follow. Perl: The Programmer's Companion by Nigel Chapman ISBN 0-471-97563-X [1997, 3rd printing Spring 1998] - http://www.wiley.com/compbooks/catalog/97563-X.htm - http://www.wiley.com/compbooks/chapman/perl/perltpc.html (errata etc) + http://www.wiley.com/compbooks/catalog/97563-X.htm + http://www.wiley.com/compbooks/chapman/perl/perltpc.html (errata etc) Cross-Platform Perl by Eric Foster-Johnson @@ -338,8 +369,8 @@ Recommended books on (or mostly on) Perl follow. Mastering Regular Expressions by Jeffrey E. F. Friedl - ISBN 1-56592-257-3 [1st edition January 1997] - http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/regex/ + ISBN 0-596-00289-0 [2nd edition July 2002] + http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/regex2/ Network Programming with Perl by Lincoln Stein @@ -349,35 +380,39 @@ Recommended books on (or mostly on) Perl follow. Object Oriented Perl Damian Conway with foreword by Randal L. Schwartz - ISBN 1884777791 [1st edition August 1999] + ISBN 1-884777-79-1 [1st edition August 1999] http://www.manning.com/Conway/ Data Munging with Perl - Dave Cross - ISBN 1930110006 [1st edition 2001] - http://www.manning.com/cross + Dave Cross + ISBN 1-930110-00-6 [1st edition 2001] + http://www.manning.com/cross + + Mastering Perl/Tk + by Steve Lidie and Nancy Walsh + ISBN 1-56592-716-8 [1st edition January 2002] + http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/mastperltk/ - Learning Perl/Tk - by Nancy Walsh - ISBN 1-56592-314-6 [1st edition January 1999] - http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lperltk/ + Extending and Embedding Perl + by Tim Jenness and Simon Cozens + ISBN 1-930110-82-0 [1st edition August 2002] + http://www.manning.com/jenness =back =head2 Perl in Magazines -The first and only periodical devoted to All Things Perl, +The first (and for a long time, only) periodical devoted to All Things Perl, I contains tutorials, demonstrations, case studies, announcements, contests, and much more. I has columns on web development, databases, Win32 Perl, graphical programming, regular expressions, and networking, and sponsors the Obfuscated Perl Contest -and the Perl Poetry Contests. As of mid-2001, the dead tree version -of TPJ will be published as a quarterly supplement of SysAdmin -magazine ( http://www.sysadmin.com/ ) For more details on TPJ, -see http://www.tpj.com/ +and the Perl Poetry Contests. Beginning in November 2002, TPJ moved to a +reader-supported monthly e-zine format in which subscribers can download +issues as PDF documents. For more details on TPJ, see http://www.tpj.com/ Beyond this, magazines that frequently carry quality articles on -Perl are I ( http://www.webtechniques.com/ ), +Perl are I ( http://www.theperlreview.com ), I ( http://www.unixreview.com/ ), I ( http://www.linuxmagazine.com/ ), and Usenix's newsletter/magazine to its members, I @@ -390,27 +425,13 @@ http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/LinuxMag/ . =head2 Perl on the Net: FTP and WWW Access -To get the best performance, pick a site from -the list below and use it to grab the complete list of mirror sites -which is at /CPAN/MIRRORED.BY or at http://mirror.cpan.org/. -From there you can find the quickest site for you. Remember, the -following list is I the complete list of CPAN mirrors -(the complete list contains 165 sites as of January 2001): - - http://www.cpan.org/ - http://www.perl.com/CPAN/ - http://download.sourceforge.net/mirrors/CPAN/ - ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/plan/perl/CPAN/ - ftp://ftp.flirble.org/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ - ftp://ftp.uvsq.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/ - ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ - ftp://ftp.dti.ad.jp/pub/lang/CPAN/ - ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/perl/CPAN/ - ftp://cpan.if.usp.br/pub/mirror/CPAN/ - -One may also use xx.cpan.org where "xx" is the 2-letter country code -for your domain; e.g. Australia would use au.cpan.org. -[Note: This only applies to countries that host at least one mirror.] +To get the best performance, pick a site from the list at +http://www.cpan.org/SITES.html . From there you can find the quickest +site for you. + +You may also use xx.cpan.org where "xx" is the 2-letter country code +for your domain; e.g. Australia would use au.cpan.org. [Note: This +only applies to countries that host at least one mirror.] =head2 What mailing lists are there for Perl? @@ -418,14 +439,16 @@ Most of the major modules (Tk, CGI, libwww-perl) have their own mailing lists. Consult the documentation that came with the module for subscription information. - http://lists.cpan.org/ +A comprehensive list of Perl related mailing lists can be found at: + + http://lists.perl.org/ =head2 Archives of comp.lang.perl.misc The Google search engine now carries archived and searchable newsgroup -content. +content. -http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&group=comp.lang.perl.misc +http://groups.google.com/groups?group=comp.lang.perl.misc If you have a question, you can be sure someone has already asked the same question at some point on c.l.p.m. It requires some time and patience @@ -493,7 +516,7 @@ bugs. Read the perlbug(1) man page (perl5.004 or later) for more information. -=head2 What is perl.com? Perl Mongers? pm.org? perl.org? +=head2 What is perl.com? Perl Mongers? pm.org? perl.org? cpan.org? The Perl Home Page at http://www.perl.com/ is currently hosted by The O'Reilly Network, a subsidiary of O'Reilly and Associates. @@ -516,9 +539,12 @@ and there are many other sub-domains for special topics, such as http://bugs.perl.org/ http://history.perl.org/ http://lists.perl.org/ - http://news.perl.org/ http://use.perl.org/ +http://www.cpan.org/ is the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, +a replicated worlwide repository of Perl software, see +the I question earlier in this document. + =head1 AUTHOR AND COPYRIGHT Copyright (c) 1997-2001 Tom Christiansen and Nathan Torkington.