[This post notes differences between the fifth and sixth editions.]
This chapter probably doesn’t deserve an update here because almost nothing changed. Most of the updates is just make all the code examples consistent. When I added the Perl 5.10 updates for the stacked file test operators, I used a style that wasn’t quite my own, but not quite the one Tom and Randal had already used in the book. It’s more jarring in this chapter than in Chapter 15 (“Smart matching”), a completely new chapter in the fifth edition, because you can see two different styles on the same page. And, I’ve updated Chapter 15 too.
There is one area where I can use some feedback though. We say:
Don’t worry if you don’t know what some of the other file tests mean—if you’ve never heard of them, you won’t be needing them. But if you’re curious, get a good book about programming for Unix.
However, we don’t give any suggestions for what a good book might be. What would you choose?