I'm a perl virgin

[Psychoman]

Ok... I'm going to be ashamed after this post is done but i I'm a perl virgin :p....

After trying to avoid perl for so long.... I talked to verisign to use them as a payment processing service, and I am considering their Payflo Pro option. However, their SDK's are all in perl and I have only gone as far as installing perl on my server in the past... can anyone give me a few pointers as to how to start picking up what perl is?

for one thing I have this set of instructions


Assuming your perl is setup correctly, and the Payflow Pro Client
is installed, do:
perl Makefile.PL
nmake;
nmake test;
nmake install;

and even though it seems so simple, I have no clue what I'm being told to do. I have not used perl at all, I bet you can tell. And I could just try to find an alternate service whose SDK's are not perl, however I realize I cannot continue to hide from it. so any help will be greatly apreciated.

Ray

[Shift4Sms]

There are several good books on PERL programming for all levels, beginning through advanced. I would highly recommend you start there.

I hear there are also some web sites for learning PERL but I prefer books.

Sorry I can't be more help. I know PERL enough to read it and make minor changes but not well enough to teach it...

[Psychoman]

Well, I don't need to have someone here teach it, Just need help getting started. Could you recomend any books you've read? I started PHP the same way, learning how to make minor changes and work my way up... If I can start doing that much, I can get started.

[Shift4Sms]

The primary book I use on PHP is Professional PHP Programming, Wrox Press, Jesus Castagnetto, Harish Rawat, & more.

While I don't have it, I have to imagine that there is a PHP for Dummies. I always liked the various [whatever] for Dummies books -- easy to read, easy to understand and the humor keeps the boring stuff interesting. They're not great for advanced topics but they cover about 95% of day to day stuff.

Hope that helps and please don't be insulted by the title (they're hard to recommend to a stranger because of the title).

[Psychoman]

Hmm, maybe a Perl for dummies also exists. (I'm looking for a perl into, not PHP I'm familiar enough with PHP to get along)

Are they really any that good? I always heard the comment "(anything) for dummies? then I must be a moron because I still don't get it"

I don't know who said that so I don't know if he really was a moron, but I have never gone to those books because of fear of wasting money.

[Shift4Sms]

LOL -- Sorry, got my threads confused. I know there is a PERL for Dummies (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764537504/qid=1094685459/sr=ka-1/ref=pd_ka_1/104-4773567-5186366). The PERL book I have on my shelf I don't like so I won't bother with the details.

As for the Dummies books, I have always liked them. But like I previously stated, they are geared toward beginning to moderate skill development. You'll need other books for advanced topics.

[Psychoman]

Then I'll give that book a try :) thank you