Tom Christiansen is an American programmer, author, and educator who played a crucial role in Perl’s success. His documentation, books, and core contributions made Perl accessible to a generation of programmers.
Perl Contributions
Christiansen contributed to Perl’s development:
- Core modules and libraries
- Regular expression documentation
- Unicode support
- Best practices and idioms
Essential Books
Christiansen co-authored foundational Perl texts:
- Programming Perl (the “Camel Book”): The definitive Perl reference
- Perl Cookbook: Practical solutions to common problems
- Learning Perl: The standard introductory text
- Effective Perl Programming: Best practices guide
Documentation
His documentation work included:
- Perl manual pages (perldoc)
- Perl FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
- Style guides and best practices
- Tutorial materials
Teaching and Advocacy
Christiansen:
- Taught Perl courses at universities and conferences
- Answered countless questions on Usenet and mailing lists
- Advocated for good programming practices
- Helped build the Perl community
Legacy
Christiansen demonstrated that languages succeed not just through design but through documentation and education. His clear, thorough writing helped Perl become a practical tool for system administrators, web developers, and scientists worldwide.