Mastering Algorithms with Perl

BUY THIS BOOK

Print Book $34.95

Safari Books Online

What is this?

Print Book £24.95

What is this?

Looking to Reprint this content?

Tell a friend

Mastering Algorithms with Perl

By Jon Orwant, Jarkko Hietaniemi, John Macdonald
First Edition August 1999
Pages: 701
ISBN 10: 1-56592-398-7 | ISBN 13: 9781565923980
(Average of 4 Customer Reviews)

Book description

There have been dozens of books on programming algorithms, but never before has there been one that uses Perl. Whether you are an amateur programmer or know a wide range of algorithms in other languages, this book will teach you how to carry out traditional programming tasks in a high-powered, efficient, easy-to-maintain manner with Perl. Topics range in complexity from sorting and searching to statistical algorithms, numerical analysis, and encryption.
Full Description

Many programmers would love to use Perl for projects that involve heavy lifting, but miss the many traditional algorithms that textbooks teach for other languages. Computer scientists have identified many techniques that a wide range of programs need, such as:

Fuzzy pattern matching for text (identify misspellings!)
Finding correlations in data
Game-playing algorithms
Predicting phenomena such as Web traffic
Polynomial and spline fitting

Using algorithms explained in this book, you too can carry out traditional programming tasks in a high-powered, efficient, easy-to-maintain manner with Perl. This book assumes a basic understanding of Perl syntax and functions, but not necessarily any background in computer science. The authors explain in a readable fashion the reasons for using various classic programming techniques, the kind of applications that use them, and -- most important -- how to code these algorithms in Perl. If you are an amateur programmer, this book will fill you in on the essential algorithms you need to solve problems like an expert. If you have already learned algorithms in other languages, you will be surprised at how much different (and often easier) it is to implement them in Perl. And yes, the book even has the obligatory fractal display program. There have been dozens of books on programming algorithms, some of them excellent, but never before has there been one that uses Perl. The authors include the editor of The Perl Journal and master librarian of CPAN; all are contributors to CPAN and have archived much of the code in this book there. "This book was so exciting I lost sleep reading it." Tom Christiansen

Browse within this book

Cover | Table of Contents | Colophon

Featured customer reviews

Mastering Algorithms with Perl Review, January 30 2004

Rating:

Submitted by Bas Meijer [Respond | View]

In a little more pages this covers way more topic than Mastering Algorithms with C, proving that Perl is efficient and expressive. The combination of Mastering Algorithms with Perl and the Perl Cookbook allows you to tackle ANY PROBLEM with Perl. Where the Cookbook solves everyday problems, this book elevates your thinking about programming. This is the depth we value from O'Reilly...

Mastering Algorithms with Perl Review, August 20 2003

Rating:

Submitted by Shawn Boyette [Respond | View]

This book does indeed contain a wealth of information on a wide variety of traditional CS topics, and is well-written, with an engaging style. However, many of the code examples are written in highly idiomatic perl. One could argue that this is exactly the point, but one could also argue that there are times when the level of idiom goes beyond "elegant" and straight on into "obfuscated" or "perl golf", reducing the immediate utility of the book as a whole. Personally, I don't want examples to cut and paste into my programs, I want to them to clearly illustrate concept so I can write my own, tailored, implementations. Still, this is on the verge of nitpicking, and there (literally) is no replacement for this book.

Mastering Algorithms with Perl Review, May 10 2002

Rating:

Submitted by Scheer [Respond | View]

I wish I had this book when I was in university...

Read all reviews

Mastering Algorithms with Perl Review, July 27 2000

Rating:

Submitted by Steve C   [Respond | View]

There's something here for everyone from the novice to very experienced Perl users. It starts with the basics and builds very, very rapidly into complicated ideas without losing coherence. Most of the material is not what the casual user will ever need to use, but not above the understanding ofcasual users either, if you are looking at more complex projects or want to learn more. Good detail on sorting, complex data structures, higher math functions, and several other areas. This book is the jump to lightspeed as far as Perl resources go.

Mastering Algorithms with Perl Review, September 12 1999
Submitted by Bob Tribit   [Respond | View]

I would've had to beat people off with a stick. Fortunately, I had reserved my copy at the bookstore. I now know what the fuss is about. This book is _awesome_. I wish this bad boy was my college text book for Algorithms and their implementation. The authors stuck to their promise and delivered a steady diet of work and play. A great reference to turn to for implementing those sometimes long forgotten tricks in the not soon to be forgotten language of PERL.

Mastering Algorithms with Perl Review, September 05 1999
Submitted by PerryS   [Respond | View]

*Magnificent*

Mastering Algorithms with Perl Review, August 27 1999
Submitted by Amro   [Respond | View]

I have been waiting for that book for so long. I am so impressed of the its quality.
Thanx Oreilly, you always bring us the BEST.

Mastering Algorithms with Perl Review, December 02 1998
Submitted by Peter Martin   [Respond | View]

Media reviews "Beginner and Intermediate level Perl programmers will find the book's materials information dense but approachable. Advanced programmers will find a well written refresher illustrating familiar concepts in Perl. Given the breadth of the books and the language specific insights, they'll probably learn a thing or two as well... It covers an awful lot in 701 tightly packed pages. Have you ever wondered how regular expressions work? Hashes? Insights into their internal workings are in there. It is an excellent reference and fills a much needed gap. No other Perl book comes close to the breadth and depth coverage of these materials."--Garrett Goebel, Kansas City Perl Mongers, Jan 2003

"A good book to frown and read while your CEO is walking around your department."
-- Brian Hann, Books Every Perl Progammer Should Have, amazon.com

"This part algorithm-textbook, part how-to-manual is loaded with valuable information for programmers."-fatbrain.com

Read all reviews

See larger cover