I have to say, compared to other ORA books, this one was hands down a total disappointment. However, I also have to add at some point, it's not the author's fault. Perl in and of itself was not ment to be implemented effectivily on win32 systems. Better to leave it to *nix platforms.

However, one thing I did notice that really bothered me was that the author didn't really offer anything useful. If was more like a phamphlet on basic Perl for a 4th grader. Reminds me of the first gee-whiz basic book I got, but I got even more out of that book than I did with this one. In short, this book offers nothing useful. When the author starts getting into useful/interesting stuff, the book is over. The "win32" relevance of this book is confined to the few API reference in the back of the book. I expected to learn the whole power of Perl, but did not.

The author did a good job of introducing the basics; a tip of a huge iceberg. That's where it ends. I spent almost two weeks trying to locate this book in a semi-local B&N and at $30, my advice: save your money. I'd suggest getting a good Perl book and learning how to interface with win32 off a tutorial on the web.

Anyone want to buy my copy? I'd gladly part with it for $15. =)