This is a modified chapter of Mastering Perl by brian d foy and published by O'Reilly Media. It may differ significantly from that in the book due to corrections, additions of new material, or removal of obsolete material. This material is online for community review in preparation for a second edition.
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This book won't make programmers into Perl masters, but it puts them on the right path. It's the third of an O'Reilly trilogy of Perl tutorials, beginning with Learning Perl, the bestselling introduction, and Intermediate Perl. While assuming readers are familiar with the first two books---basic syntax from the first, modules and team programming from the second---Mastering Perl covers Perl's idioms and teaches readers how to integrate the skills they already have. It revisits many concepts covered in the previous books, but in much more detail. More importantly, it teaches readers how to learn Perl---and master it---on their own.
Mastering Perl focuses on three major areas important to the developing Perl programmer:
XXX: other points to make: + practical advice + real life examples for CPAN +