> I recommend:
> Programming Perl
> Learning Perl
> The Perl Cookbook
>
> Get them and use them.
Some picks from my Perl library related to what
you seem to want to do (quick and dirty parsing):
2nd and 3rd editions of the Camel (PP)
LP for perl 4.
The Cookbook
Perl for System Administrators
Data Munging with Perl
I loved both editions of Programming Perl (the
Camel). The same goes for my well thumbed
Cookbook. Learning Perl for perl 4 was a bit
of a letdown given that I was trying to learn
perl 5, but that's probably not the book's fault!
I've heard good things about the more recent
editions.
Data Munging with Perl is another option.
It has a very different feel from the above books.
It goes through its topics in a systematic fashion --
it seemed almost plodding to me, with perhaps
3 jokes in the entire book. However it remains a
high quality book and is probably an excellent
choice if you want to do anything more than an
hour or two's worth of data munging in the next
few months. I loved it, dry style notwithstanding.
I recently bought Perl for System Administrators.
I haven't read any of it yet, but it looks potentially
relevant to your needs, with, for example, a full
chapter on log processing.
hth
