Learning Perl is a classic of the form---the best intro programming book that I've ever seen, at least for smart readers who've done some kind of programming (a

Learning Perl is a classic of the form---the best intro programming book that I've ever seen, at least for smart readers who've done some kind of programming (any kind, with any language) in the past. The contrast to Learning Python is noteworthy. The latter book is useful, too, but it's about ten times bigger and much less focused on introducing a language.