On line PERL class for $79... worth it?

[sappman2]

Just thought I'd throw this out here... I'm a new Linux-lover, but as green as grass. I learned BASIC in high school and work with a similar language in Heating/Cooling/Process controls. I want to learn more about programming & scripting in Linux, and, because I'm so green, I'd need something more inter-active than just a book. I came accross this web class advertised by a large/local technical school. Here's the link: http://www.ed2go.com/cgi-bin/oic3/newcrsdes.cgi?name=southeast&course=ipp&title=Introduction^to^Perl^Programming&departmentnum=WP&path=1

The description is brief... does it seem worth $79 on the surface? Or has your experience shown these "quickie" classes to be insignificant as regards needed knowledge? (I blew $1,000 three years ago on a Net+ exam class that taught me very little.) how about a bit of your advice? Cheers!

[darth_vector]

lol, i thought this was spam. i personally dont like doing courses. if you change your mind and want to learn from a book have a look at this:

http://www.unix.org.ua/orelly/

there is a plethora of information there.

[TylerB]

Waha! South Dakotan! I knew I wasn't the only one.

Anywho, I just started programming too (albeit not with perl), and I found that several online tutorials and books to be quite helpful, although there seems to be a self-taught vs. aided learning debate I've seen spring up in several places.

I have not had personal experience with online courses, and I'm new at programming too, so my advice should be taken with a grain of salt :???:. From the look of the syllabus it seems like the class is teaching pretty basic parts of the programming language. I personally would not spend $80 on it, but then again I'm cheap and poor.

Incoherently yours,
Tyler

EDIT: Darth, thank you for that amazing link! <3

[ekarni]

If you've had some exposure to BASIC and are still doing some programming as it sounds, I don't think you're nearly as green as you think you are! I guess it depends how much you value your $79, but from my (cheapskate) perspective, I'd be inclined to play with the free resources on the web before spending money.

Personally, I found Perl to be a very straightforward language to pick up. There are some good tutorials (and comprehensive reference stuff) here: http://perldoc.perl.org/perlintro.html

[toojays]

If you want to spend some money on online training, you might be better off just getting a subscription to the Safari online books site. Alternatively, you may be eligible to join a professional organisation which makes resources available to its members. For example, ACM members get access to all the books and courses at <http://pd.acm.org/>.

[sappman2]

Thanks for all your responses. I'll check these links out... book-marked 'em for now. Much appreciated!
~Chris