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Perl Best Practices
Many programmers code by instinct, relying on convenient
habits or a "style" they picked up early on. They aren't
conscious of all the choices they make, like how they format
their source, the names they use for variables, or the kinds
of loops they use. They're focused entirely on problems
they're solving, solutions
they're creating, and algorithms
they're implementing. So they write code in the way that
seems natural, that happens intuitively, and that feels
good.
But if you're serious about your profession, intuition isn't
enough. Perl Best Practices author Damian Conway explains
that rules, conventions, standards, and practices not only
help programmers communicate and coordinate with one
another, they also provide a reliable framework for thinking
about problems, and a common language for expressing
solutions. This is especially critical in Perl, because the
language is designed to offer many ways to accomplish the
same task, and consequently it supports many incompatible
dialects.
With a good dose of Aussie humor, Dr. Conway (familiar to
many in the Perl community) offers 256 guidelines on the art
of coding to help you write better Perl code--in fact, the
best Perl code you possibly can. The guidelines cover code
layout, naming conventions, choice of data and control
structures, program decomposition, interface design and
implementation, modularity, object orientation, error
handling, testing, and debugging.
They're designed to work together to produce code that is
clear, robust, efficient, maintainable, and concise, but Dr.
Conway doesn't pretend that this is the one true universal
and unequivocal set of best practices. Instead, Perl Best
Practices offers coherent and widely applicable suggestions
based on real-world experience of how code is actually
written, rather than on someone's ivory-tower theories on
how
software ought to be created.
Most of all, Perl Best Practices offers guidelines that
actually work, and that many developers around the world are
already using. Much like Perl itself, these guidelines are
about helping you to get your job done, without getting in
the way.
Praise for Perl Best Practices from Perl community members:
"As a manager of a large Perl project, I'd ensure that every
member of my team has a copy of Perl Best Practices on their
desk, and use it as the basis for an in-house style guide."
-- Randal Schwartz
"There are no more excuses for writing bad Perl programs.
All levels of Perl programmer will be more productive after
reading this book."
-- Peter Scott
"Perl Best Practices will be the next big important book in
the evolution of Perl. The ideas and practices Damian lays
down will help bring Perl out from under the embarrassing
heading of "scripting languages". Many of us have known Perl
is a real programming language, worthy of all the tasks
normally delegated to Java and C++. With Perl Best
Practices, Damian shows specifically how and why, so
everyone else can see, too."
-- Andy Lester
"Damian's done what many thought impossible: show how to
build large, maintainable Perl applications, while still
letting Perl be the powerful, expressive language that
programmers have loved for years."
-- Bill Odom
"Finally, a means to bring lasting order to the process and
product of real Perl development teams."
-- Andrew Sundstrom
"Perl Best Practices provides a valuable education in how to
write robust, maintainable Perl, and is a definitive
citation source when coaching other programmers."
-- Bennett Todd
"I've been teaching Perl for years, and find the same
question keeps being asked: Where can I find a reference for
writing reusable, maintainable Perl code? Finally I have a
decent answer."
-- Paul Fenwick
"At last a well researched, well thought-out, comprehensive
guide to Perl style. Instead of each of us developing our
own, we can learn good practices from one of Perl's most
prolific and experienced authors. I recommend this book to
anyone who prefers getting on with the job rather than going
back and fixing errors caused by syntax and poor style
issues."
-- Jacinta Richardson
"If you care about programming in any language read this
book. Even if you don't intend to follow all of the
practices, thinking through your style will improve it."
-- Steven Lembark
"The Perl community's best author is back with another
outstanding book. There has never been a comprehensive
reference on high quality Perl coding and style until Perl
Best Practices. This book fills a large gap in every Perl
bookshelf."
-- Uri Guttman
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