Book excerpt: There is an increasing need for more advanced information about how to write the most effective Perl scripts. This book shows in sixty concise and direct lessons how to tackle and solve common programming obstacles. Effective Perl Programming explains idiomatic Perl, covering the latest release (Version 5), and includes information and useful examples about the structure, functions, and latest capabilities of the language, such as self-documenting object-oriented modules. You can also learn from Hall's answers to real life questions and problems he receives from newsgroups and his Perl seminars.