🦄 Data Munging with Perl — 25 Years On

📖 Background & History

• The original Data Munging with Perl book was published in February 2001, though it was written during 2000, justifying the “25 years” claim.
• Author Dave Cross shares the evolution of the book and its place in Perl history.

🧑‍💻 About Dave & the Perl Community

• Started using Perl in 1996.
• Founded London Perl Mongers in 1998.
• Gave his first talk at YAPC::Europe 2000 on the book—by his own account, it was awful.
• His Symbol::Approx::Sub module (misspelled subroutine support) gained popularity.

📚 How the Book Came to Be

• Became a technical editor for Manning Publications in 1999.
• Proposed expanding a book idea from “text manipulation” to “data munging”—a term from the Jargon File.
• Manning reluctantly accepted the informal title.
• The book was part of a wave of Perl titles from Manning, styled as an alternative to O’Reilly.

🌟 Reception & Impact

• Well-reviewed on Slashdot (by chromatic), leading to top-10 Amazon Computer Books status briefly.
• Sold approximately 7,500 copies.
• Built a reputation: got freelance jobs without needing interviews due to the book’s influence.
• Went out of print in 2014; PDF made available online for free.

🧓 Why a Second Edition?

• The book is dated—much has changed in:
  • Perl (core features, syntax)
  • CPAN ecosystem
  • General development practices
• The free PDF is still downloaded, but Dave finds it embarrassing in its current state.
• He’s now experienced in eBook publishing via Perl School, making a self-published second edition viable.

📆 Why Now?

• Been considering it since 2014.
• Perl book sales are down, but eBooks lower the barrier.
• Wants to ensure the book remains relevant and useful for modern Perl developers.

🌍 Context: How the Tech World Has Changed

• No Web 2.0, social media, or smartphones in 2000.
• Perl was on version 5.6; now it’s at 5.40+.
• Major changes include:
  • New syntax: say, state, //, postfix dereferencing, signatures.
  • Modern modules: Moo, Try::Tiny, Path::Tiny, DateTime.
  • Testing: Test::More, Test2 ecosystem.
  • Web development: Plack/PSGI, Dancer, Mojolicious.
  • Format evolution: From XML to JSON/YAML.

🛠️ Changes in the Second Edition

• All code updated to use modern Perl 5.40+ syntax and features.
• Uses Time::Piece and DateTime instead of outdated date modules.
• Object-oriented examples updated to use Moo.
• Unicode coverage corrected and expanded.
• APIs over web scraping; reduced XML, increased JSON/YAML usage.
• Considering replacing Parse::RecDescent with Perl6::Rules or alternatives.
• Replacing dated examples (e.g., CD collections) — possibly with playlists or vinyl.

📚 Availability & Publishing Plans

• Final ebook expected by the end of April 2025.
• Will be published via:
  • LeanPub
  • Amazon Kindle
• Paperback may follow, depending on demand.
• A “Work in Progress” version is already available for purchase on LeanPub:
  • Buyers receive free updates as chapters are completed.
• Stay updated via:
  • Newsletter on Substack
  • Official site

🙏 Final Thoughts

• Dave welcomes feedback, especially on:
  • Parser modules to use
  • Music-related example data
  • Paperback interest
• Q&A hosted by Alex follows the talk.