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Perl CD Bookshelf 2.0

Posted by timothy on from the dirty-work-so-you-don't-have-to dept.

Craig Maloney contributed this review of the Perl CD Bookshelf 2.0, which he calls "the most portable way to get five Perl books from here to there." Like others in the same series, this package from O'Reilly assembles several related titles onto a single, searchable disk to save endless page-thumbing, but not without a few glitches.

Perl CD Bookshelf 2.0 author (Various) pages N/A publisher O'Reilly and Associates, Inc. rating 8 reviewer Craig Maloney ISBN 0-596-00164-9 summary The update to the previous Perl CD Bookshelf with a new edition, two deletions, and a new title.

Books, but not a book

O'Reilly's Perl CD Bookshelf 2.0 includes the following books, which have all been reviewed earlier on Slashdot before:

Overview The Perl Bookshelf 2.0 is O'Reilly's updated version of its popular Perl Bookshelf. It includes five books rather than the six of the previous edition, and removes the Learning Perl and Learning Perl on Win32 Systems in favor of Perl for System Administration. It also includes a Java-based search engine to search the books, and a master index for all of the books. Like the previous Perl Bookshelf review I'll be doing a 'meta review' of the presentation of the content rather than the content itself. What's in it for me? As mentioned before, this edition includes five searchable and indexed O'Reilly Perl books. The removal of Learning Perl and Learning Perl for Win32 Systems doesn't bother me, since this bookshelf has material that can be used by everyone rather than books for just beginners, or Win32 Perl programmers. Included in the package is a CD-ROM and a paperback version of Perl in a Nutshell, the same version as the first edition. On the CD-ROM, you'll find the five books in HTML format, as well as a (proprietary) Java search engine. Unlike the first edition, the JRE is not included on the CDROM. Windows users get the added benefit of having an autorun.inf file to begin their session for them. What's good? Perl for Systems Administration is a worthy addition to this library. The other four books have proven themselves to be worthy of being in every Perl programmer's library. Having them all in one convenient searchable spot is, of course, a huge advantage. The layout for each of the books is adequate, and is very cross platform. The indexes take advantage of named tags and clicking on an index entry takes you directly to the section specified.

The inclusion of Perl in a Nutshell is also a nice touch, since Perl in a Nutshell can answer the mundane problems, while the CD can be used for the tougher ones.

What's bad? The Java search engine may be the only way to make The Perl Bookshelf cross platform, but it is very weak. Worse, if you are running Linux, the search engine won't work at all. You'll need to visit O'Reilly and download a patch, copy the CD to your hard disc, and apply the patch using a 'fixed' shell script. Windows users fortunately will not have to go through such hoops to get the search running properly. The searches themselves leave something to be desired as well, namely the lack of a highlighting of the search term or even the ability to move to the term being searched. For instance, searching on 'chomp' will bring up the Perl function page as one of it's choices. However, it brings it up without positioning the page to the function itself, so the user has to scroll through the list of functions to get to the one she wants. Thankfully, the master index is very complete, so you may not even have to bother with the search engine at all. It's a shame that something which could have been so powerful is so crippled.

Conclusion This is the most portable way to get five Perl books from here to there. While there are problems with the keyword search, the master index should be good enough to get you the information you need. If you've been considering getting these books this is the most cost effective way to bring them into your library."

You can purchase this CD at FatBrain.

1 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. Aaargh! Fatbrain! by MajorBurrito · · Score: 4

    Does Fatbrain pay someone to link to their site for every book review? They are not even close to the cheapest site on the net. If you want a good price comparison, go to AddAll. Just type in the title, and it will search about 30 online book retailers for the lowest price, including coupons and shipping/handling.

    Besides, does anyone else besides me think "Fatbrain" is a stupid name?