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Babylon 5

Not a beginner's book by any stretch of the imagination, it is the definitive reference written by the author of Perl. Everything you need to know about Perl is here, but you may have some trouble finding what you need. While it does a good job of covering the new features of Perl 5, this comes at the expense of explanation of some of the more basic features. In an effort to be complete, the authors have sacrificed some clarity. Still an essential part of any Perl programmer's library, but not the only book you'll want especially if you're just starting out in Perl.

This much kinder gentler introduction to Perl takes you through the basics of the syntax, which can be bewildering. After reading this book and doing the exercises, I was able to write small but useful Perl scripts. For larger programming tasks using Perl, you'll need to move up to Programming Perl.

The first edition of Programming Perl contained two chapters of recipes which were omitted from the second edition. The Perl Cookbook is an expanded version of those two missing chapters. A terrific book for finding just the code you need quickly to accomplish your task. When there's more than one way to do it (the Perl Motto by the way) the authors describe each method and its advantages. When the Camel just isn't enough, the Cookbook will usually have what you need to get your script running before your boss fires you.

Rapid Development by Steve McConnell

Review

As a developer, you have been on that project.  The one that seems that it will never end.  Requirements change daily, testing seems to discover new bugs faster than you can fix them, release dates come and go and noone seems to know when the project will be completed.  If you're like me, maybe you thought that was just the way software projects were.

And then I read this book. Chapter 3 contains a case study of classic mistakes.  It sounded like every project I had ever worked on.  Steve McConnell shows you how to avoid those mistakes, and how to leverage best practices in planning and development to achieve maximum predictability and control over your software schedule.  This should be required reading for all software project managers, technical leads and top management.  

While it's a long book, it lends itself to easy browsing. You can almost dip in at random and find some useful tip on how to improve your chances of bringing your project in on time and under budget. But you'll want to read it straight through at least once. The last section of the book is devoted to individual Best Practices.  Each practice is explained along with its risks and benefits. Not all practices will be applicable to all projects, and the book guides you through when each is appropriate along with what practices it compliments.

If you like this book, you might also be interested in Steve McConnell's other books, Code Complete and Software Project Survival Guide.  Look for in depth reviews of these coming up.

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