I am. I don't know if it's an indicator of my familiarity with O'Reilly covers, or an indicator of the length of lines at Borders, but by the time I got to the man at the register, I had already spotted _Mastering Algorithms With Perl_, almost certainly the copy I ordered. It was indeed, the amount of money I had was sufficient, and I am now the proud owner of a copy of the Wolf book.
But I'm scared.
Perhaps it's just the eyes of the canine glaring at me from the cover, or the fact that I've been having an attack of perfectionist "don't do it now, you'll screw it all up", but I'm really, really afraid to crack it open and start the ball rolling.
Also, I'm sheepish, now that I realize there's a ready-made Markov at CPAN.
Quick Addendum: The decision was made for me. I had a bunch of homework to do and got it out of the way just in time to hand it in at my next class, which starts two minutes ago by the school clock.I'll probably end up reading it tonight in bed, though. (And tomorrow, when I end up waiting to see my brother about getting my car some tires.)
Re:don't admit to being sheepish...
chaoticset on 2002-03-21T21:01:08
Well, it's funny you should mention that. I read the colophons eagerly with each O'Reilly I pick up, mostly because it seems like someone's gone to the trouble of picking out an animal that somehow exemplifies the topic. (Or, in the case of one of the Python books, exemplifies a viewpoint. I laughed so much when I realized that it was a rat on the cover!)Wolves move in packs, act in packs, etc., which I believe is supposed to related to the conceptual harmony possible when combining algorithms. A long wolf is no slouch on its own, but a pack is significantly more effective.
Also, as noted in the forward, wolves aren't always all business, they play a lot too; just as algorithms aren't always being applied to academic uses, being handy in games and little diversions as well.
