I started reading this book with no previous programming experience. At the beginning the pace was just right. But starting around chapter 5 or so I ran into a brick wall. But first, the good stuff. I really appreciate the inclusion of exercises at the end of the chapter. They help the learning process alot. The book is well written and I think the chapters are laid out logically. Now, the things I would like to see improved: Chapter 5's exercise #2 really confused me. After a few hours of trying I finally gave up and typed in the answer from the back of the book. The code given in the answer produced an error message until I changed the line to the alternative mentioned in the comments. Chapter 6 barely mentioned the printf function and then required it's use in an exercise at the end of the chapter. A simple table listing enough information to at least get through the exercises would have been more helpful than the reference to another programming language or book. After Chapter 6 I am shelving the book to be replaced by a more thorough book with a better grasp of it's intended audience. I understand that this book is intended as a companion to "Programming Perl", but at $70 for the set I'll be better off spending $30 for a more complete book that I can actually work through.