Mastering Perl/Tk: A Book Review

Title:
Mastering
Perl/TkAuthors: Steve
Lidie and Nancy WalshPublisher:
O'ReillyISBN:
1-56592-716-8Until January of 2002, programmers wanting a book on Perl/Tk
had one option: Learning Perl/Tk, by Nancy
Walsh. Although well researched and accurate, it gave the reader
only a basic familiarity with what Perl/Tk could do. Many readers
wanted more, expressing the desire for a new book that contained
more detailed examples, coverage of composite widgets and more
detailed reference materials. To address these desires Nancy wrote
Mastering Perl/Tk, this time enlisting the
help of Steve Lidie, author of the Perl/Tk Pocket
Reference.The book's stated purpose is to be the master reference on
Perl/Tk. It is written to be usable by someone having only basic
familiarity with Perl programming, but it also covers the most
advanced features of both Perl and the Tk module, so as to make the
dedicated reader of this book a master of GUI programming with
Perl/Tk.I believe the book meets these goals and, apparently, so do
Perl/Tk programmers who shop at
Amazon.com:
Learning Perl/Tk is now selling at 50% of its
$34.95 price, while Mastering Perl/Tk is
commanding 70% of its $44.95 list price. For better or worse,
Mastering Perl/Tk is likely to be the death
knell of its forerunner.Mastering Perl/Tk is divided into two
distinct sections. The first half of the book (chapters 1-13)
covers the same material found in Learning
Perl/Tk; in fact, several of the examples and text
sections are repeated verbatim. The difference in
Mastering Perl/Tk is that the material is
presented in a manner appropriate to a more experienced audience.
Critics of Learning Perl/Tk accused the author
of "handholding", and she has tailored Mastering
Perl/Tk accordingly.The reader will have a fully functional GUI program running
by page 12. By the end of chapter 13, the reader will have gained
experience with all the stock widgets in the Perl/Tk module. The
book also covers deployment of Perl/Tk on both UNIX and Windows
platforms.The authors devote chapters 14 - 23 to advanced material not
previously published. Building custom widgets, operation of the
Perl/Tk MainLoop function, images and animation, and interprocess
communication each have a full chapter devoted to them, as do
widget writing in C and using the LWP module for web access.
Chapter 23 covers some miscellaneous topics like the NoteBook and
Dialog widgets and cursor manipulation. Finally, three appendices
present how to install Perl/Tk (on UNIX and Windows platforms),
options and defaults for all stock widgets and source code for
examples in the second half of the book.I particularly liked the level that at which this book is
written. I have several years experience with Perl programming in
general, though I have never done it professionally or full time.
However, I was able to understand all the material in the book
without referring to any outside references. Concepts are explained
in detail, but without overkill (read: handholding). The code
examples are written in a nearly self-documenting style.The authors are able to impart their considerable programming
and software design experience to the reader, so that one gets an
idea of not only how to code a program but where and why Perl/Tk
would be a good language for writing a Windows-based
application.O'Reilly's web site has two errata files for this book. The
errors listed amount to four trivial typos and four page number
errors in the index. As for glaring errors and conceptual
inaccuracies, there are none.I personally think a relational database example would have
been a valuable addition to the book. However, other examples cover
general data formatting in enough detail that developing a GUI
database application should not be difficult, if one understands
all the material in the book.It is possible to learn Perl/Tk using only material that is
freely available on the Internet. However, Mastering
Perl/Tk is truly a value-add above and beyond on-line
reference material. The authors' explanations and examples give you
ideas on how to build useful applications that solve real problems.
The on-line material tells little more than syntax.If you want to learn more about GUI programming in Perl,
Mastering Perl/Tk will be a valuable addition
to your library.Bill Cunningham is a Systems
Engineer with Reuters America, Inc. He is based in Charlotte, NC.
His interests include just about anything to do with Perl and
UNIX.