Product Description
Perl users learn tools and techniques that can be used to create and manipulate graphics with the Perl programming language. Topics range from simple graphics recipes to the development and design of flexible graphics software. Between these two extremes are examples of more complex uses of selected modules, such as using graphics in Web applications, and more general techniques for dealing with graphics and graphics formats. Source code downloads and technical support from the authors are available on publisher's Web site. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Slightly dated
A good discussion of Perl graphics programming - however, it needs updating to discuss the GD 2 graphics library.

The Best Book Available
Simply put: if you want to learn how Perl can interact with graphics, then you need to get this book. It is far superior toO'Reilly's outdated and thin book, Programming Web Graphics with Perl & GNU Software.

Thankfully Graphics Programming with Perl does not limit itself to Web graphics. While dedicating many chapters to Web graphics, the author also discusses topics, such as 3D animation using OpenGL and Renderman, that most people do not associate with the Perl programming language. Very informative!

The author, Martien Verbruggen, cleary knows his stuff and it shows, especially in the opening chapters where he presents in-depth overviews of the bits and pieces in graphics programming (e.g, the drawing primitives, color spaces and palettes, file formats, et cetera). Many other books would probably breeze through such information, but not here. Not only did I learn about the graphic tools available to the Perl programmer, but I also learned a great deal about the graphic programming world in general. ... Read more

Product Description
The book really shines in its code examples: short, clear and to the point; the author repeatedly shows how something can be done in Perl 5 code and how it's expected to work in Perl 6.The author guides you through creating variables and accessing the data in them. You will find out how to save memory by only using the OO variable types when you need them.

— "Mr...after reading Scott Walter's gentle overview, I am actually looking forward to Perl 6 - eagerly anticipating rather than dreading its arrival.

Perl 6 Now: The Core Ideas Illustrated with Perl 5 is perfect for those eager to see where Perl is headed, Perl 5 programmers who want to know that their favorite tricks will still work in some form, and programmers wishing to open their minds to advanced programming topics.

Perl 6 generalizes the language, making it more extensible, eliminating longstanding pitfalls, and adding new concepts. Thanks to some clever people and impressive efforts, many of these new features work in Perl 5, so you can start using them now in production-level code.

The book teaches the basics from a Perl 6 perspective, touching on variable interpolation, datastructure use, object construction, threads, closures, symbol tables, and other core features. It then introduces continuations, coroutines, binding (or aliases), hyper operators that work on lists of data at once, set operators that work on complex datatypes, lightweight multidimensional arrays, strong type checking, autoboxing, precompilation, automatic module dependency installation, and more.

Though Perl 6 changes the fundamental syntax in some areas, Perl 5 code isn't left in the lurch. Thanks to PONIE, code from both versions may coexist in a single program. You'll need to adjust only a few habits and learn a few new things, and this early adopter's guide will help you do these things.

Customer Reviews (6)

As good as it's going to get
Perl 6 is pretty confusing no matter how you cut it. Scott does a nice job here of demonstrating the features of six. And he does it in a way that makes more sense than the Apocalypse stuff that Larry writes. If you are going to be using six as soon as it comes out then you will want to have a look at this in the meantime. It's the first book or article I have read that explains the new features in ways that I can understand.

look at the advanced features
Walters presents his book for Perl 5 programmers, who might be eyeing Perl 6 and wondering if they should migrate. So the chapters are designed with the new Perl 6 features explicitly demarcated and usually at the start of each chapter. The book emphasises what is different about Perl 6.

But it is also more than for Perl 5 readers. The book can be read as a complete explanatory text on Perl 6 OR Perl 5, for someone who has never programmed in any version of Perl. It shows that Perl 6 is in part a competitive response by the Perl community to the presence and influence of other languages. Overall, this evolutionary pressure benefits you, as a Perl programmer, by giving you a more powerful language.

For me, the most interesting section was at the end. There's a nifty discussion of possible set operations, implemented in a simple syntax. Plus other more abstract computer science topics. Try exercising your imagination by perusing these pages, even if you can't see an immediate need for them in your coding.

Also - it was good form for Walters, in an earlier review, to say that he wished he could've blogged without rating his own book.

This book rocks!
This is a clever, well-written book that will likely put your mind at ease if you are anxious about Perl 6.Scott makes interesting and intellegent comments, and provides good code samples.This book should appeal to Perl programmers of any skill level, and is not as dry as most programming books.An enjoyable read!

Trivia and notes from the author
Hi everyone!

Here's some trivia you might not otherwise find, and then I'm going to try to clear up exactly what this book *is*.

25% of the royalties on sales of this title have been pledged to the Electronic Frountier Foundation and The Perl Foundation. These two organizations have shaped the world for the better for those of us who love to express ourselves creatively using computers and the 'Net. Being a hacker wouldn't be the same without cryptography or Perl.

http://perl6now.com has a sample chapter, Multidimensional Arrays, which talks about PDL, the Perl Data Language, and doing vectorized operations on light weight, storage efficient large arrays. It also has all of the frontmatter including the Introduction and detailed Table of Contents. The Introduction is the best explanation of the book. There's also a link to my blog and other goodies.

Perl steals madly from other languagers (and always has); Perl 6 stole the coolest batch of features yet; _Perl 6 Now_ introduces these bizarre, alien, potent ideas using Perl 5 CPAN implementations and nearly 800 code listings.

First, it's a decidedly a Perl 5 book. It's about language features recently introduced in Perl 5, language features implemented as CPAN modules that intentionally or coincidentally parallel Perl 6's new features, and it's about advanced use of Perl 5's features to do things that Perl 6 tries to streamline or generalize to put into common reach. Perl 6's syntax will make learning Perl easier for novices but learning a new syntax just plain isn't that interesting to most of us. There are Perl 6 syntax examples but these are secondary to the introduction of the idea that spurred the change. Every idea included has a Perl 5 implementation. There is no hand-waving. Everything works in Perl 5 and everything is relavent to Perl 5. Making so many of Perl 6's ideas work on Perl 5 is no small task - this book contains hundreds of hacks, module demonstrations, tricks, and so on. This isn't a book on Parrot and it's not a book on PONIE (yet, though hopefully a second edition will do better). It only teaches how to incorporate the best parts of most of the languages on Earth to write some seriously mental Perl. If you enjoyed _Object Oriented Perl_, this book is for you.

-scott

P.S.: I wish I could blog here without rating the book, but I can't. Sorry.

Perfect for early adopters of Perl 6
This book simplifies the transition from coding in Perl 5 to coding in Perl 6. Common elements and themes between the two languages are demonstrated, along with an introduction to the advances found in Perl 6. Scott outlines a vast set of features using specific examples easily understood by Perl programmers of all levels.
Scott also uses humor throughout to make this Perl 6 guide a fun read. I especially enjoyed an example using pet washing to illustrate type checking (Type Safety chapter)! The expert's voice indeed - I hope we see more books from Mr. Walters. ... Read more

Product Description

“I picked up a copy of JavaScript by Example over the weekend and wanted to thank you for putting out a book that makes JavaScript easy to understand. I’ve been a developer for several years now and JS has always been the “monster under the bed,” so to speak. Your book has answered a lot of questions I’ve had about the inner workings of JS but was afraid to ask. Now all I need is a book that covers Ajax and Coldfusion. Thanks again for putting together an outstanding book.”

–Chris Gomez, Web services manager, Zunch Worldwide, Inc.

“I have been reading your UNIX® Shells by Example book, and I must say, it is brilliant. Most other books do not cover all the shells, and when you have to constantly work in an organization that uses tcsh, bash, and korn, it can become very difficult. However, your book has been indispensable to me in learning the various shells and the differences between them…so I thought I’d email you, just to let you know what a great job you have done!”

–Farogh-Ahmed Usmani, B.Sc. (Honors), M.Sc., DIC, project consultant (Billing Solutions), Comverse

“I have been learning Perl for about two months now; I have a little shell scripting experience but that is it. I first started with Learning Perl by O’Reilly. Good book but lacking on the examples. I then went to Programming Perl by Larry Wall, a great book for intermediate to advanced, didn’t help me much beginning Perl. I then picked up Perl by Example, Third Edition–this book is a superb, well-written programming book. I have read many computer books and this definitely ranks in the top two, in my opinion. The examples are excellent. The author shows you the code, the output of each line, and then explains each line in every example.”

–Dan Patterson, software engineer, GuideWorks, LLC

“Ellie Quigley has written an outstanding introduction to Perl, which I used to learn the language from scratch. All one has to do is work through her examples, putz around with them, and before long, you’re relatively proficient at using the language. Even though I’ve graduated to using Programming Perl by Wall et al., I still find Quigley’s book a most useful reference.”

–Casey Machula, support systems analyst, Northern Arizona University, College of Health and Human Services

“When I look at my bookshelf, I see eleven books on Perl programming. Perl by Example, Third Edition, isn’t on the shelf; it sits on my desk, where I use it almost daily. When I bought my copy I had not programmed in several years and my programming was mostly in COBOL so I was a rank beginner at Perl. I had at that time purchased several popular books on Perl but nothing that really put it together for me. I am still no pro, but my book has many dog-eared pages and each one is a lesson I have learned and will certainly remember. “I still think it is the best Perl book on the market for anyone from a beginner to a seasoned programmer using Perl almost daily.”

–Bill Maples, network design tools and automations analyst, Fidelity National Information Services

“We are rewriting our intro to OS scripting course and selected your text for the course. It’s an exceptional book. The last time we considered it was a few years ago (second edition). The debugging and system administrator chapters at the end nailed it for us.”

–Jim Leone, Ph.D., professor and chair, Information Technology, Rochester Institute of Technology

“Quigley’s book acknowledges a major usage of PHP. To write some kind of front end user interface program that hooks to a back end MySQL database. Both are free and open source, and the combination has proved popular. Especially where the front end involves making an HTML web page with embedded PHP commands. “Not every example involves both PHP and MySQL. Though all examples have PHP. Many demonstrate how to use PHP inside an HTML file. Like writing user-defined functions, or nesting functions. Or making or using function libraries. The functions are a key idea in PHP, that take you beyond the elementary syntax. Functions also let you gainfully use code by other PHP programmers. Important if you are part of a coding group that has to divide up the programming effort in some manner.”

–Dr. Wes Boudville, CTO, Metaswarm Inc.

The World’s Easiest Perl Tutorial–Fully Updated!

Perl by Example, Fourth Edition, is the easiest, most hands-on way to learn Perl. Legendary Silicon Valley programming instructor Ellie Quigley has thoroughly updated her classic to deliver the skills and information today’s Perl users need most–including all-new coverage of MySQL database programming and a Perl QuickStart designed to get experienced users up and running fast.

Quigley illuminates every technique with focused, classroom-tested code examples, detailed line-by-line explanations, and real program output. This exceptionally clear, easy-to-understand book takes you from your first Perl script to database-driven applications. It’s the only Perl book you’ll ever need!

New in this edition:

• Perl programming QuickStart: makes first-time Perl programmers productive in just twenty pages

• All-new chapter on using the Perl DBI with the MySQL database–plus an easy SQL primer to quickly get you started programming any database

• New introductions to Perl in biology (bioinformatics) and to mod_perl, a Perl interpreter embedded in the Apache server, which allows you to create fast, dynamic content; manage the Apache server; authenticate users; and much more

Completely updated:

• Includes many new and completely rewritten code examples

• Contains fully revised CGI coverage for building dynamic Web sites with Perl

• Covers modern Perl 5.8 concepts and principles–and provides a great foundation for Perl 6

More than 30,000 sysadmins, power users, and developers have used previous editions of Perl by Example

to become expert Perl programmers. With Perl by Example, Fourth Edition, you can, too–even if you’re

completely new to Perl. After you’ve become an expert, you’ll turn to this book constantly as the best

source for reliable answers, solutions, and code.

About the CD-ROM:

The CD-ROM includes all code and files for this book’s hundreds of example scripts.

Customer Reviews (43)

OK, but not the best book on Perl
I bought this book hoping to get a broader view on Perl from that given in "The Perl CD Bookshelf". Although it somehow does, I seldom find my self searching items in this book. As a recommendation, I would suggest that you do not buy this book if you have doubts about it. Do not get me wrong, it is OK, but I prefer the one mentioned above.

Not for beginners, not for programmers?
I'm a developer who is learning Perl for a new project.My background is in PHP, Bash, and C++.I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out which book would be most helpful to "jump start" me on Perl, and I'm not sure I picked the right one.I'm about half way through this book, and I have to say that I can't figure out who would find a lot of value in it.

Before I go any further, I want to make a comment to anyone looking to learn Perl: You need to have some foundational understanding of UNIX or (Linux).Its just a fact.The language's roots are in UNIX, and no matter how many platforms it gets ported to or how much marketing people try to convince you the examples work anywhere, concepts like pipes, sed pattern matching and input/output redirection simply aren't going to make a lot of sense unless you have some experience in a *nix environment.

Now to the book.I found the book to be *very* disorganized.References are made in examples to concepts that haven't been introduced.Syntax is used with no explanation about what it means.She starts talking about objects on page *28*!(What other programming book introduces objects before page 300 unless its Java?)I was not expecting there to be a solid introduction to programming in general, but I was expecting a little more introduction to the language as a whole before diving into many, many pages of language reference-like material.You are just supposed to trust that the examples work (even if they don't).Which leads me to my second point.

Errors in the examples.I won't say there are "hundreds" or "thousands" as has been mentioned in previous reviews, but there are quite a few.More than I would like.I've been able to work around most of them, but I think thats largely because of my background with other languages.

IMHO, beginners will be frustrated by the lack of organization, diving into a lot of reference-like material and the errors in the examples.Developers experienced with other programming books are going to be confused by the maze of logic that is (not) weaved in the first few chapters.Having the examples is a step above a pure language reference, but only when they work or when you can work around the syntax errors.

So I don't think I can say that this is a good book or a bad book.Its just a book.

Required ereading for anyone new to Perl.
I bought this book after reading some of the reviews on Amazon, and I haven't looked back.I have programmed in different languages for 25 years now, but only in Perl for the last six months.I program in Perl every day, and this is my most thumbed book.I started from scratch, with only a few bits of sample code and taught myself.There are a few quite negative views out there, but for me I can't understand why.It's a professional well-written book with plenty of simple examples.

Good book for learning Perl
This book was required for an online course on Perl programming and so far I have to say that it has been pretty easy to read and follow. It has many clear examples and exercises. Not to mention, the book is HUGE and covers a large range of topics. If you are going to learn Perl, this book is a great one to pick up.

Poorly organized...
Wow -- what a frustrating experience!I'm an experienced programmer who is familiar with both C and shell programming, which are the two areas that are referenced often in the book, but it was *still* hard to figure out how to do things in Perl using this book.

My biggest complaint is the very poor organization.As some other reviewers noted, it seems to be a random collection of tidbits, but not organized logically or hierarchically like every other programming book I've ever read.

For example, as I write this, I'm trying to figure out how to read lines from a file.I looked at the section for "Report Writing".As most anyone can figure out, when you write a report, you need data.So this section goes on and on about generating reports.But all the example simply output the contents of various variables.As anyone who processes data knows, the normal sequence of things is: read data, process data, output data.Well, I have yet to find how to simply read in lines from a text file.I mean the book talks about printf, so I assume there is something similar to scanf or gets or something similar right?I'm sure it must be in here somewhere, but so far it is not obvious from the table of contents or the index.

Hey, so what about this section called "Getting a Handle on Files"?Nope!It tells you how to open and close files, and how to even output lines of text to a file, but amazingly, it doesn't mention how to read lines from a file!ARGHHHH!!!

I guess this author must expect data to spontaneously, magically materialize from thin air!

I finally figured it out!...but not from this book.It took me two minutes with Google to figure out what I couldn't find in this book after half an hour!

So, now that I know the "trick" to reading lines from a file, out of curiosity, I try to find the info in the book.So I search the index for "$_".Well, guess what?You know how most languages have their share of special characters (including operators, of course), so every programming book I've read had these symbols in the index (and as far as I can recall, usually right at the front of the index)?Well, this book does not put the special symbols in the index!This is a huge shortcoming, because as you read through the book and see these various symbols for the first time, it is usually very convenient to be able to look them up in the index (as opposed to trying to search in the book for the first occurrence of the symbol).Well, that's not an option here...Ridiculous!
... Read more

Product Description
Written by core members of the technology's development team, Perl Template Toolkit guides you through the entire process of installing, configuring, using, and extending the Template Toolkit. It begins with a fast-paced but thorough tutorial on building web content with the Template Toolkit, and then walks you through generating and using data files, particularly with XML. It also provides detailed information on the Template Toolkit's modules, libraries, and tools in addition to a complete reference manual.Topics in the book include:

• Getting started with the template toolkit
• The Template language
• Template directives
• Filters
• Plugins
• Extending the Template Toolkit
• Accessing databases
• XML
• Advanced static web page techniques
• Dynamic web content and web applications

Customer Reviews (3)

A very powerful and verstile tool
I used this book on a couple of projects and was very impressed with how helpful it was.A suggest that I would like to see in this already large book is more examples of a full project.Each chapter addresses a part of the tool and the final chapter brings it all together, I would like to see another chapter for an example.

Well written, but not terribly useful for what I wanted.
I was looking for a book which would describe the template toolkit in great detail for use in web development(CGI's).

Specifically I wanted something which would match the perl TT with Class::DBI and CGI::FormBuilder.

The Perl Template Toolkit was clearly written with good examples, but is fairly light in the CGI realm. Only chapter 12 has CGI examples, with no javascript thrown in.

A mating to CGI::FormBuilder is a natural marriage to the perl template toolkit, but CGI::FormBuilder is not even mentioned.

It's too bad the book doesn't cover in more detail some of the commonly used CGI modules in conjunction with the perl template toolkit, as the writing and examples are top notch.

It's a great look at the template toolkit, but doen't throw in enough info to hook it into the rest of the perl/web development realm to be as useful as it could have been.

With a few more chapters I think this could be a really great book.

I would not have purchased this book if I had thumbed through it at a bookstore.

good book for several audiences
I picked up this book because I want to use a templateing system to produce web pages and I grok Perl pretty well.This book seems designed for at least two audiences, people who want to create something like a website using the TT and people who want to hack/extend the template toolkit.

The book is a very gentle and seemingly thorough introduction and explanation.The authors write with clarity and humor.I must admit that the authors write with such thoroughness and gentleness that I sometimes grew impatient.One addition I would have liked is more examples.Chapter 2 carefully explains a complete, but very simple example and Chapters 11 and 12 contain much richer examples.However, I find that I never learn unless I *do* and for such a long book, I was surprised that there wasn't more directly about the application of the TT.

You can use this book and the toolkit without knowing any Perl.The authors explain things well and clearly.However, you will get maximum value from the TT (and grok the syntax most quickly) if you know some Perl.The material on filters and plugins (there is a chapter on each, parts of another chapter about writing your own, plus entire chapters dealing with DBI and XML plugins... it's a good chunk of the book) is wonderfully detailed and probably justifies the book.

I skimmed most of the material on hacking and extending the toolkit.It seemed pretty thorough, even explaining how to alter or replace the TT syntax (right down to a quick tutorial on Yapp/yacc).I learned a lot from the little bit I read.I suspect this would be very helpful to Perl hackers and others as an example.

A note about the toolkit itself.It's very powerful.In many ways, it's like Perl itself (e.g., it has a Perl-like syntax).It has exceptions but scoping seems weak and there appears not to be anything like 'use strict'.

In summary, this is a good book for a variety of audiences.It is very well written and you should leave it's pages with enough know-how to use it for something like web page generation.I learned a lot about Perl and available CPAN modules (in addition to learning a lot about the TT).But I wish there was more direct practical application as examples, exercises, recipes, etc. ... Read more

Product Description

mod_perl is a unique piece of software that wholly integrates the power of Perl with the flexibility and stability of the Apache Web server. With mod_perl, developers can harness the power of the full Apache API and develop Web applications quickly and without sacrificing performance.

The mod_perl Developer's Cookbook teaches programming with the mod_perl API by example. The book takes developers from the basics of mod_perl to the development advanced Web applications. Developers will learn tricks, solutions, and mod_perl idioms gleaned from the authors' experience as developers and expert users of mod_perl.

Geoffrey Young is a frequent contributor to the mod_perl community and has written scores of mod_perl handlers, the most useful of which can be found on CPAN.

Paul Lindner manages, designs, and implements mod_perl applications at Critical Path. He is a long-time Internet and open-source developer, and was one of the founders of the Internet Gopher at the University of Minnesota.

Randy Kobes is a professor of physics at the University of Winnipeg who conducts research on chaos and fractals. He used mod_perl to establish a search engine for CPAN.

Customer Reviews (7)

The book mod_perl programmers have been waiting for
Over the last few years mod_perl has become a serious force in web development. If you're building a web site to run on an Apache server and you want to write the code in Perl, then you're going to want to install mod_perl on your server too as it's the best way to avoid many of the performance issues with traditional CGI. It's taken a while for publishers to wake up to the fact, however, and there haven't been many books in the shops. It looks like this will be the year that this changes. A number of mod_perl books are about to be published and this is the first.

This book uses the popular "cookbook" approach, where the content is broken down into short "recipes" each of which addresses a specific problem. There are almost two hundred of these recipes in the book arranged into chapters which discuss particular areas of mod_perl development. In my opinion the cookbook approach works much better in some chapters than in others.

It's the start of the book where the cookbook approach seems most forced. In chapter 1 problems like "You want to compile and build mod_perl from source on a Unix platform" provide slightly awkward introductions to explainations about obtaining and installing mod_perl on various platforms (kudos to the authors for being up-to-date enough to include OS X in list list). All the information you want is there however, so by the end of the chapter you'll have mod_perl up and running.

Chapter 2 looks at configuration options. It tell you how to get your CGI programs running under mod_perl using the Apache::Registry module which simulates a standard CGI environment so that your CGI programs can run almost unchanged. This will give you an immediate performance increase as you no longer have the performance hit of starting up a Perl interpreter each time one of your CGI programs is run. This chapter also addresses issues like caching database connections and using mod_perl as a proxy server.

We then get to part II of the book. In this section we look at the mod_perl API which gives us to the full functionality of Apache. This allows us to write Perl code which is executed at any time during any of the stages of Apache's processing.

Chapter 3 introduces the Apache request object which is at the heart of the API and discusses various ways to get useful information both out of and back into the object. Chapter 4 serves a similar purpose for the Apache server object which contains information about the web server and its configuration.

In chapter 5 the authors look at Uniform Resource Indentifiers (URIs) and discuss many methods for processing them. Chapter 6 moves from the logical world of URIs to the physical world of files. This chapter starts by explaining the Apache::File module before looking at many ways to handle files in mod_perl.

The previous few chapters have built up a useful toolkit of techniques to use in a mod_perl environment, in chapters 7 and 8 we start to pull those techniques together and look in more detail at creating handlers - which are the building blocks of mod_perl applications. Chapter 7 deal with the creation of handlers and chapter 8 looks at how you can interact with them to build a complete application.

Chapter 9 is one of the most useful chapters in the book as it deals with benchmarking and tuning mod_perl applications. It serves as a useful guide to a number of techniques for squeezing the last drops of performance out of your web site. Chapter 10 is a useful introduction to using Object Oriented Perl to create your handlers. Whilst the information is all good, this is, unfortunately, another chapter where the cookbook format seems a little strained.

Part III of the book goes into great detail about the Apache lifecycle. Each chapter looks at a small number of Apache's processing stages and suggests ways that handlers can be used during that stage. This is the widest ranging part of the book and it's full of example code that really demonstrates the power of the Apache API. I'll just mention one particular chapter in this section. Chapter 15 talks about the content generation phrase. This is the phase that creates the actual content that goes back to the user's browser and, as such, is the most important phase of the whole transaction. I was particularly pleased to see that the authors took up most of this chapter looking at methods that separate the actual data from the presentation. They have at recipes that look at all of the commonly used Perl templating systems and a few more recipes cover the generation of output from XML.

Finally, two appendices give a brief reference to mod_perl hooks, build flags and constants and a third gives a good selection of pointers to further resources.

This is the book that mod_perl programmers have been waiting for. The three authors are all well-known experts in the field and it's great that they have shared their knowledge through this book. If you write mod_perl applications, then you really should read this book.

Excellent single-point reference
As someone who's been writing code for mod_perl-enabled Apache servers for six years, I can honestly say that this book is one of the best single references on a topic I've seen. Much like the "Perl Cookbook" and "Writing Apache Modules in Perl & C" wrapped into a single volume (with all the recipes tightly focused on mod_perl). I've recommended it to everyone I know who writes for this platform, and it is rarely more than 2-3 feet from my keyboard. Covering the subject as deeply as sub-classing the Apache classes in XS (Perl's layer of glue for writing and linking C code), there's very little about mod_perl you won't find in the book.

Slam dunk
This book hits the nail on the head. Excellent technical information, much much much more than your typical book that is just regurgitated man(1) pages. Geoff and company delivery a book that shows you the power of mod/perl, why you should use it, and why it is great for what your doing. This book is part of my standard fare.

Great for profiling and tuning
This book is terrific!We were having problems with mod_perl memory usage and performance with our new website.This book gave us great ideas on how to implement startup.pl scripts, Apache::DBI, and many other Apache parameters.But the biggest payback was in the profiling of our code.The book suggested problem areas (such as slurping files), and provided reference to Apache::DProf which is a beautiful tool for profiling.The end result has been tremendous performance increase.Well worth the price (and even the quick shipping charges), this book is very timely!Kudos to Geoff, Paul and Randy on a robust, selfless and important effort!

The best 'Best Practices' book
This book has become my favourite and i keep it open by my monitor as i code. It is for those of us who have graduated fron $foo and 'Hello World' examples and need solutions to our everyday coding problems. In short, it has reduced my daily caffeine and nicotine intake. ... Read more

Product Description
Perl is by far the most popular programming language for creating scripts that add powerful interactive features to Web pages. Included on most UNIX platforms and available free of charge for Windows and Macintosh, Perl lets you place forms on your Web site that collect and process user input such as product orders and comments, enable visitors to conduct keyword searches for information on your site, and integrate a database into your site, among many other capabilities.Perl and CGI for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickStart Guide gets you to the heart of Perl scripting with CGI. Even first-time programmers will be able to create interactive Web pages and, more importantly, you'll be able to use your new-found familiarity with Perl to understand and customize the multitude of scripts that already exist on the Web. Following on the huge success of Liz Castro's top-selling HTML:Visual QuickStart Guide-the book to have to learn or reference HTML-Castro's Perl and CGI for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickStart Guide is soon to becomethe choice for learning Perl and CGI. Author of the acclaimed, best-selling HTML:Visual QuickStart Guide, with over 100,000copies sold. Teaches you all you need to know to start creating CGI scripts in Perl. Shows how to make your Web pages stand out with interactive features such as guest books and forms. Assumes no prior programming experience.Amazon.com Review
One of the best things about Perl and CGI for the WorldWide Web is the seamless way the author incorporates terminologyinto her explanations. Elizabeth Castro, author of HTML 4 for the World WideWeb, understands the intermediate user: someone who would bebored by a beginner's guide, but isn't ready to step up toheavy-hitting programming texts either.

In Perl and CGI, sheexplains basic concepts--such as the difference between a compiled andan interpreted script--within the text, so there's no need to keepflipping back to the glossary. Readers should be familiar with HTMLand comfortable with technical explanations, diagrams, and generalvocabulary.

Anyone trying to get a grasp on something as complexand powerful as Perl will appreciate Castro's relativelystraightforward technique. For example, in the first chapter, Castroexplains some basic Perl concepts sensibly: that the $ standsfor the s in scalar; the @ sign stands for thea in array; and that the % that labels a hash orassociative array indicates two circles on each side of the slash asparts of a pair. This granular, logical way of building Perl knowledgewill get new Perl users started. More experienced users will want touse this book as a workbook and refresher. --JenniferBuckendorff ... Read more

Customer Reviews (95)

great intro. to perl
this was my very first Perl book and it taught me a lot of basic stuff that i still use now eventhough i don't use Perl anymore :) I'd still recommend it and I love the Visual Quickstart Guides!

Birds Friend or foe
In the movie "The birds" I found that it was interesting to the point to where you did not know what the birds would do next, or who was going to be there next victim.The actors who played the characters (Rod Taylor as Mitch Brenner, Tippi Hendren as Melanie Daniels and Jessica Tandy as Lydia Brenner and many more) did a fine job of acting for their time, however if the movie were based in today's time they would probably not have been as well recognized for this particular movie.
The setting is in Bodega Bay and San Francisco which are located in California.There they were brutally attacked by several different types of birds all trying to do one thing get some sort of revenge.During these attacks many people were killed because of the crazy stages these birds were going through.It leaves you hanging the whole time to try to figure out why the birds want to commit such hideous crimes.What could possibly cause them to do such horrible things?
I thought the movie was well thought out but after reading the short story "The Birds" it makes you wander what similarities there were between the two, I can answer that question none.If the movie had been more like the book it would not have been as exciting.I thought that the book was good but was a little boring compared to the movie.
If you get the chance I suggest you read and watch the "The Birds." For they both have interesting point of views.
MCHS-SLC

Birds Friend or foe
In the movie "The birds" I found that it was interesting to the point to where you did not know what the birds would do next, or who was going to be there next victim.The actors who played the characters (Rod Taylor as Mitch Brenner, Tippi Hendren as Melanie Daniels and Jessica Tandy as Lydia Brenner and many more) did a fine job of acting for their time, however if the movie were based in today's time they would probably not have been as well recognized for this particular movie.
The setting is in Bodega Bay and San Francisco which are located in California.There they were brutally attacked by several different types of birds all trying to do one thing get some sort of revenge.During these attacks many people were killed because of the crazy stages these birds were going through.It leaves you hanging the whole time to try to figure out why the birds want to commit such hideous crimes.What could possibly cause them to do such horrible things?
I thought the movie was well thought out but after reading the short story "The Birds" it makes you wander what similarities there were between the two, I can answer that question none.If the movie had been more like the book it would not have been as exciting.I thought that the book was good but was a little boring compared to the movie.
If you get the chance I suggest you read and watch the "The Birds." For they both have interesting point of views.
MCHS-SLC

Excellent starter; useful reference into intermediate level
This is a great book for the intermediate to well-seasoned HTML coder who is looking to explore server-side scripting.Experience with regular programming helps to pick up the language even more quickly, although it is certainly not necessary.Having been introduced to the many uses of Perl/CGI after installing and using several scripts like those on the CGI Resource Index (http://www.cgi-resources.com), I was well aware of the practicality of what I was learning (after reading to chapter 3, I began writing Perl with a purpose, using the book only as a reference).I'm now very comfortable with the language, and have moved on to more advanced projects (and, consequently, more advanced resources).I HIGHLY recommend this book, as well as others in the Visual Quickstart series (especially those written by Elizabeth Castro).

Don't buy this book.
The book purports to be a visual quickstart guide.However, you will need a microscope to view the examples; which after close examination, you will find to be the same examples you can get for free on-line.The extensive use of deprecated code is more than just annoying, especially the code that was deprecated prior to publishing.The publishers should have caught that.Get the O'Reilly book instead: the one with the mouse on the cover. ... Read more

Product Description
Perl programmers increasingly rely on the Web, online help, and other online information sources to solve technical problems. Version 3.0 of O'Reilly's Perl CD Bookshelf gives you convenient online access to your favorite books from your CD-ROM drive. We've updated this best selling product with the electronic versions of 7 popular Perl books.Included are the second edition of Perl in a Nutshell (paperback version included), the third editions of Learning Perl and Programming Perl, the Perl Cookbook, and 3 new titles: Perl & XML, Perl & LWP, and Mastering Perl/Tk. Formatted in HTML, The Perl CD Bookshelf, Version 3.0, can be accessed with any web browser. In addition to individual indexes for each book, there is a master index for the entire library. With the CD Bookshelf, you get a complete Perl library that you can easily carry with you anywhere you need it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A must-have
This is essential.Perl docs are amazing and great, but sometimes you just need a little more info.This isn't just a compilation of books.This is a compilation of SEARCHABLE books.The great thing about version 3 is that the files are still in html and still fully externally searchable, unlike later pdf versions.

PERL by the TON
The O'Reilly Llama is perhaps the most famous PERL book ever written; this package starts with the Llama, and then just keeps going, and going, and going...

The only drawback with this package is the sheer volume of information that gets laid on you all at once. It's a lot, to say the least. But if you are serious about reaching Guru status, this will get you there.

ANYONE who writes any Perl should buy this
I am a professional UNIX admin, and often do contract work.
I carry the UNIX, Network, and Perl CD bookshelves in my laptop case so I still have access to 15+ incredible books on the road.
Well worth the money!

It's a bargain
Well you get 7 great books on a CD, what can I say more?
Even though I already had some of these books in a dead tree version I did not regret any cent spended on this CD Bookshelf. It is almost all time in my drive and the search function is so helpfull you never want to miss it again.

(Almost) everything a Perl Programmer needs
A review of this CD is rather problematic. Most of the books on this CD (as far as I read them before) are worth 4-5 stars. So this CD with online searching is worth ...5 stars... I will only comment on the CD version of the books and not on each single book (look at the reviews for the single books if you are interested in that).

Personally a CD with books is just an add-on to the printed versions, that I can read everywhere (bed, beach ...) and that I can mark in different colours and write on. Online books for me are for online searching and online reading of a few chapters.

This CD contains all the books in HTML format with a Java based full text search engine (works for me with IE 5.5 and mostly works with Netscape ... and an HTML based Master Index. There is a problem in the Master Index for the letter "L" (bad links, see Errata). Go to the O'Reilly website and download the updated file for this index.

Additionally to the online searching capabilities I really like the capability to use the WWW links to external resources directly from the CD (e.g. to CPAN). I think that the quality of the HTML translation of the books is quite high. It seems however that you need a rather new browser because we had some problems with Netscape 4.7 with the documentation. I like that all the links within the documentation are relative so that you can copy the CD wherever you like and still use it (even put it on your internal WWW server which is of course illegal). The size is rather small (60MB for all the books) so that you can put it on your laptop for mobil work.

You can find the following books on the CD:
- Perl in a Nutshell (2. Edition)
- Programming Perl (3. Edition)
- Perl & XML
- Mastering Perl/Tk
- Learning Perl (3. Edition)
- Perl Cookbook
- Perl & LWP

The book "Perl in a Nutshell (2nd Edition) as a printed version is part of the package as a "bonus book". I like it as a reference book.

Unfortunately O'Reilly did not put all its Perl books on this CD. For total happiness I am missing the following books (name your own):
- Programming the Perl DBI
- Perl for ORACLE DBAs
- CGI Programming with Perl (2nd Edition)

The price for the CD is not really low but compared with the printed versions of all the books it is reasonable from my point of view.

If you are a mobile Perl user I can really recommend this CD. ... Read more

Product Description
Object-Oriented scripting with Perl and Python

Scripting languages are becoming increasingly important for software development. These higher-level languages, with their built-in easy-to-use data structures are convenient for programmers to use as "glue" languages for assembling multi-language applications and for quick prototyping of software architectures. Scripting languages are also used extensively in Web-based applications. Based on the same overall philosophy that made Programming with Objects such a wide success, Scripting with Objects takes a novel dual-language approach to learning advanced scripting with Perl and Python, the dominant languages of the genre. This method of comparing basic syntax and writing application-level scripts is designed to give readers a more comprehensive and expansive perspective on the subject.

Beginning with an overview of the importance of scripting languages—and how they differ from mainstream systems programming languages—the book explores:

• Regular expressions for string processing

• The notion of a class in Perl and Python

• Inheritance and polymorphism in Perl and Python

• Handling exceptions

• Abstract classes and methods in Perl and Python

• Weak references for memory management

• Scripting for graphical user interfaces

• Multithreaded scripting

• Scripting for network programming

• Interacting with databases

• Processing XML with Perl and Python

This book serves as an excellent textbook for a one-semester undergraduate course on advanced scripting in which the students have some prior experience using Perl and Python, or for a two-semester course for students who will be experiencing scripting for the first time. Scripting with Objects is also an ideal resource for industry professionals who are making the transition from Perl to Python, or vice versa. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Damn good book
I'm not sure if it's timing or what, but I have quickly found this book to be quite useful and I'm only using the Perl parts. I've been around Perl for sometime but I've not been diligent enough to pick up some of the finer points.This book has helped me to acquire a more complete understanding of the language and rev up my Perl object fu.I think in large part, because the book is very well-writen.It is clear and even lucid with plenty of excellent examples.It has become the first book I reach for when I'm looking for explanation on a topic.

The only drawback is that the book doesn't touch upon modern Perl OO such as Moose.I suspect that it was being put together before Moose had really taken hold.An excellent follow-up title would be "Scripting with Modern Perl".

I haven't looked at the Python side of the book, but I'd bet it is stellar as well. ... Read more

Product Description

Real World SQL Server Administration with Perl is written with the goal of super-charging your SQL Server administration skills with Perl scripting, taking you to the next level of SQL Server administration. Through a broad range of scenarios, this book shows you how to write Perl scripts (often in combination with T-SQL scripting) to solve a wide variety of SQL Server administration problems. This unique book will provide you with the techniques to conquer real-world problems that frequently trouble DBAs.

You will take away at least two things from reading this book: a DBA toolkit complete with over 150 Perl scripts, and problem-solving techniques perfect for attacking additional SQL Server administrative challenges. Many of the sample problems are described in SQL Server 7 or 2000 context, but in reality, the examples aren't version specific&emdash;all the Perl scripts are open and may be adapted to work with any version of SQL Server. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great resource when working SQL Srvr and/or Perl on Windows
Real World SQL Server Administration with Perl focuses on how Perl can be applied to perform administration tasks involving SQL Server. Shea has provided a great detail of material in nearly all major areas of SQL Server administration. Subtopics include migrating data, comparing and sorting database objects, analyzing log files, analyzing and generating SQL code, monitoring SQL Servers, and managing SQL Servers in an enterprise environment. In every subtopic, Shea succeeds in demonstrating how Perl can be used to build tools to perform a particular administrative task. A common theme found throughout the book is to use Perl to bridge the gap between standard and third-party SQL Server administration management tools with Perl scripts.

The first three chapters of the book along with Appendix B review the basics of Perl as well as Perl modules. Much focus is given to Windows specific modules included in ActivePerl, the leading freeware Perl runtime environment from ActiveState. Over the course of chapters 2 and 3, Shea details how to use Perl to connect both with ADO and ODBC (as part of this, he touches upon using COM from Perl). Also introduced in these chapters are utility routines that Shea has developed to support the tools that he provides in later chapters.

Starting in chapter 4, Shea launches into the gist of the book, SQL Server administration. The first topic covered is data migration focusing on the bulk copy program (BCP). As examples, he demonstrates the importing of both the SQL Server error log as well as the Windows PerfMon log. Changing gears in chapter 5, the comparison of table columns, column indexes, contraints, stored procedures is introduced. In each case, at least one script is shown as an example. Later in chapter 5, Linchi provides a comprehensive script that compares several database objects in one script execution pass. His intent in this chapter is to address a common DBA task, comparing database schemas for change management whether it be for application trouble-shooting or upgrading deployments. He then concludes chapter 5 with scripts for generating stored procedure call trees and procedure dependency lists.

Chapter 5 is jammed packet with several cool Perl scripts including the following:

1. Table columns - compareColumns.pl
2. Table indexes - compareIndexes.pl
3. Constraints - compareConstraints.pl
4. Store Procedures - compareSPs.pl
5. Schemas - The first comparison rolled into script, compareDBs.pl
6. Stored Procedure Call Tree (callTree.pl)
7. Stored Procedure (Package) Dependency Lister (sortSPs.pl) - this Perl script will scan a group of stored procedures and identify the dependencies of other stored procedures.
8. Producting a Reference Tree for a Table (tableTree.pl) - this Perl script will generate a table dependency graph of other tables that are referred to by their foreign keys.

In chapter 6, Shea switches to a different track, analysis of the internals of a SQL Server database. Here he dives into more advanced facilities such as the trace flag 1200 - useful for debugging the locking behavior of a particular row - and the DBCC PAGE command, as well as details that help identify potential database problems. Once again, scripts are provided to help analyze the information that can be gleaned from SQL Server.

Chapters 7 and 8 deal with analysis and generation of SQL code. In starting off on these series of topics, Shea introduces filerQueryPlans.pl, a script that analyzes the output generated by the SQL Profiler tool. He also provides scripts for identify queries with excessive joins and dynamic SQL (reviewSP.pl). indexSummary.pl is another script that is quite useful, this script scans the a query plan and analyze how a given SQL query utilizes indexes. This script thus helps you to determine which indexes are used, not used, as well as how often a script is used. SQL code generation is also covered with examples that generate T-SQL code from a configuration file, database schema, from data in a table, existing T-SQL script files, and other SQL-DMO object instances. Perl script code to split files containing multiple stored procedures into a single file for each procedure is also provided here.

Chapters 9 and 11 are companion chapters. Chapter 9 introduces log file analysis of the SQL Server error logs, Windows event logs (grepEventLog.pl), DBCC output files, log files from scheduled jobs, SQL Server agent files, replication error log files, and agent output files. Other types of log files include Windows cluster log files, application server log files, as well as third-party log files. In this chapter the author discusses and develops scripts for alerting based on evaluations of the SQL Server error log, local drive space, database server availability and cluster. Then as a follow-up in chapter 11, Linchi develops scripts for monitoring of these areas with the ability to notify via SMTP e-mail.

Chapter 12, Managing SQL Servers in the Enterprise, is the last chapter. This chapter provides material and scripts for managing many SQL server instances in an enterprise environment. As the reader has come to expect, this chapter is also packed with useful scripts for managing SQL server instances as well as system and user accounts.

ListSysadmin.pl - Lists Sysadmin accounts and logins
scanForSQLServer.pl - Scan for SQL Server machines on a network
scanNullSAPasswords.pl - Scanning for sa accounts with null passwords
trackSQLAccounts.pl - Tracking SQL Server Service accounts
findOpenShares.pl - identify file shares on your SQL Server systems that are wide-open

In conclusion, the book Real SQL Server Administration with Perl is a wonderfully useful book for DBAs managing SQL Server databases. I have come across no other book targeted at a particular community within the world of Microsoft and Windows that demonstrates the power and usefulness of Perl. In addition to packing the book with incredibly useful Perl scripts for SQL Server administration, I also find myself using the first few chapters as well as the appendix as a general reference to programming Perl in the Windows environment.

Fantastic Perl/Windows/SQL Server book
What a fantastic, well written, example laden book.If you are a SQL Server DBA or Developer (or Windows Admin or Power User) and know or wish to learn Perl to help automate many of your proactive and reactive monitoring tasks then this book is for you.Shea is one smart cookie and I'm really impressed by his book.

Very practical
This book contains a lot of good and practical perl code. It really help me a lot. ... Read more

Product Description

A comprehensive introduction to web programming, requiring no prior programming experience, this book begins with HTML and moves to progressively more difficult programming languages—JavaScript, Perl, and Java. It emphasizes a hands-on approach, and contains clear instructions for carefully chosen visual examples from a wide variety of topics that will appeal to most individuals—encouraging them to find ways to capture their interests in creative web pages. Chapter topics include fonts and colors; lists; tables; anchors and images; frames and image maps; cascading style sheets; arithmetic, selection, and iteration statements; functions and objects; arrays; forms and form elements; elementary data types; and graphics. For Web Masters, Web Page Developers, and Graphic Designer for Web pages.

Customer Reviews (6)

Error Ridden
I used this text book in a class on HTML and Java Script. It was too riddled with errors to recommend as a good text book on programming. Previous classes have documented over a hundred errors in the text, and code samples; some minor, and some major. There are much better guides to programming than this book.
You may save money buying just this one book , but I did not find it money well spent.

Its pretty good
This book isn't horrible. The guy above obviously is an ex-lover of the author and is none to happy. The book has excellent examples and walks through the basics of HTML, JavaScript, JAVA, and perl. After you have learned the languages it is awesome for using as a reference and refresher.

Fantastic book
An absolutely amazing resource!! I took an html class, and this was the book that got me through it. The examples are interesting and clever. She's also very friendly if you ever try to e-mail her with questions.

From a former student
I'm a former student of Dr. Anderson-Freed and I am currently a professional web developer.I have seen this book in two classes on web programming, the first time in a draft form and the second time in its current form.Having seen the errors and typos in the draft, and having pointed them out during class, I had hoped that the final print of the book would contain at least some of the corrections.Unfortunately, as another reviewer has pointed out, the book still contains numerous errors, typos, and just plain incorrect programming.

I still own a copy of her book because I have penned in corrections to many of the errors in the book.It covers a little bit of everything, and the little bit of reference I need for Perl and Java are met by this book and web references.However, I also currently own and recommend the HTML 4 Bible and JavaScript Bible, both published by IDG Books.I would recommend the Bible series of computer books over Dr. Anderson-Freed's book to anyone who requires a web-related programming reference.The same goes for IWU students who are taking her classes: don't buy this book.While her book contains many examples (many of which she uses in class), a good portion of her examples have code that does not produce the desired results.You would be better off reading another text and recreating the examples on your own.

The best JavaScript out there
THis book is very very good
im in college and the webdesign teacher suggested a different book and i took a gamble and got this book instead and i love it ... Read more

Product Description
Do we really need another Perl book?Obviously yes: This is a book for people who already know how to program in another language, but don't know Perl.A book that gets through the basics as quickly as possible. How to do the fun stuff.A book that emphasizes good programming style in Perl. Many of the Perl programs are written in a quick-and-dirty style; I wanted to see if the style I have developed in other languages can translate.In many Perl books, object-oriented programming is treated as an optional feature for advanced programming. I wanted to bring it closer to the center of focus (although I am anything but an object-oriented bigot).In presenting Perl features, I tried to find examples that are interesting in their own right, and that encourage the reader to explore Perl's features. *** Published under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Money raised from the sale of this book supports the development of free software and documentation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Deliberately Do Things Wrong When Learning a New Language
I have read parts of this book before in a freely available pdf copy, but as I prefer to own and read "real" books I have just ordered this printed edition.

It makes a great suggestion when learning new languages.
Downey says, "As you are experimenting with a new language, I suggest that you make deliberate errors in order to get familiar
with the most common error messages."
That is some of the simplest, best advice I've heard in a while.

The book has some very interesting and new content which I didn't expect from a perl book but the author is a very original guy.

If you want to learn perl fast , I think Learning Pearl The Hard Way is a pre-requisite, but Randal Schwartz's book "Learning Perl" is good also...

Why buy a book that gets the name of its subject wrong?
Why would anyone want to buy a book about a programming language that gets the name of that language wrong?

The name of the language is:Perl.Initial cap 'P', all other letters lower-case.

The name of the executable program for this language is:perl.All lower-case.(Or perl.exe on Win32.)

'PERL' -- all upper-case -- is wrong because it is neither an abbreviation nor an acronym.

Any serious Perl programmer knows these facts.An author, editor or publisher who does not does not deserve to have such a book purchased. ... Read more

Product Description
Modern Perl Programming will help you master PerlUs most robust, powerful features Q so you can make the most of Perl, regardless of your experience. After a rapid-fire Perl tutorial/refresher, Michael Saltzman systematically introduces expert Perl techniques for building robust, maintainable, industrial-strength software. Coverage includes Web/CGI and network programming, object techniques, GUIs, references (pointers), enterprise database integration, data structures, debugging, and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A Perl Novice's Resource - Not a Begginer's Tutorial
All of the other reviews were quite accurate their evaluations quite personal, so this should point out that as with all tutorial/resource books one size does not fit all.I am a programmer who does not use Perl often.When I do, a quick read of this book is always a great boost.And as a resource.It is not complete, it is short and to the point.And concise.I like it, I use it, and I use it when teaching Perl to graduate students in Engineering disciplines who have exposure to programming and now need to quickly learn Perl to use as a tool in the context of research or a career.Its not a learn-computer-programming book and it is not the-complete-and-definitive Perl book.It is a very good refresher,summary, pointer, quick-study resource book.

From the author
I wrote this book to fill in the gap between those Perl books which were too advanced and those Perl books which were too elementary.This is the perfect book for you if you are new to Perl.The style of the book is to explain concepts by giving simple details and by following these details with clear and complete Perl programs.So that the book would also have appeal for all Perl programmers, there are also many advanced topics in the book which are generally not covered in an introductory text.These include Web Programming (CGI), Database Programming (DBI) and Graphical User Interface Programming (using Tk).

Incomplete Index, errors, some material not fully explained
During the last halve chapters of the book the author started to scurry through topics too quickly. I understand that he was trying to write a book that was not too advanced but I was irritated at new syntax and processes introduced in examples but not fully explained. This was my first Perl book. I admit I did like the book alot in the beginning. But when I began to practice code and needed to look up a keyword or special character I found there was no appendix for characters and keywords and scarcely an index at all. I had to thumb through the book each and every time I wanted to find "where I had read about" something.

Unneccesarily Complicated Examples
I am a technical trainer and had the unfortunate task of teaching a Perl class using this book.I found this book to cover all of the essentials though not do it well.

In my opinion the author does not explain the details of the different functions of Perl he just assumes you know them and starts using them.He also starts using functions in early examples without first explaining what the function does.How can you learn arrays when his example has looping though he hasnt explained it yet?His examples are unneccesarily complex and could be written simply to get the same point accross.

A much better book is 'Teach Yourself Perl in 24 Hours' Second Edition by Clinton Pierce.Get it and get programming with Perl today.

The book I have been looking for.
I have been programming in Perl for over a year, but not on a regular basis, so I don't consider myself to be a "seasoned" Perl programmer.I've been trying to find a good Perl book that is clear and easy to understand, with enough content and examples to guide me through whatever I might need.

I purchased this book recently when tasked with a web programming project that I didn't quite know how to accomplish.This book not only helped me through my project, but is quickly becoming the resource I rely on for all of my Perl questions.This is THE book I've been looking for! ... Read more

Product Description

MySQL and Perl for the Web provides a much-needed handbook for database and Web developers seeking an extensive and detailed guide for using the combination of MySQL and Perl to build dynamic and interactive database-backed Web sites. It shows how to use Perl's DBI database access module, pairing it with with the CGI.pm module that allows Web pages and forms to be generated and processed easily. These tools provide developers with a solid foundation for creating applications that incorporate database content to create dynamic, up-to-date Web sites.

The book employs a practical learn-by-doing approach that demonstrates development techniques by building complete applications, not just fragmentary pieces. It shows what to do at each step of the way during the process of building live, working examples. Applications are fully explained so you can understand how they work and apply the techniques they illustrate to your own projects.

The sample code for the applications in this text is presented in small pieces in context with the discussion; most of the space is devoted to explanations of the issues and implementation. All of the code is available, however, from the book's companion Web site. This tutorial is an excellent way for Perl developers to move to the next level of development and make the most of some powerful, free tools. --Stephen W. Plain ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

A great book to get you up to speed
Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book on the condition that I would write a review of it.That said, what follows is my opinion.

This book provides a good "from the ground up" guide for using Perl to do just about anything you'd want to do on your web site, including run an eCommerce site.You need to know a bit of Perl before you start, but even if you don't the examples start out simple enough that you should be able to pick it up as you go, provided you have some programming background.Should you get stuck, there are plenty of pointers to online resources, as well as an appendix to show you how to set up the software used in this book.

The book starts out with the basics: setting up MySQL and Apache to get at your data via the web, including Perl DBI basics.You then get started by writing a simple to-do list application, and in the process create modules that you will use (and build on) later in the book.

Mod_perl is covered, and then progressively more complex form based applications are presented.Many useful techniques are discussed. Once you're just about tired of all the tedium of form based applications, automated form-handling techniques are introduced that use meta-data about the table structures to automatically generate (and validate) input data.Techniques for session management get a chapter as well, presenting very good information on the pros and cons of different session management techniques (IP, cookie, URL key, etc).

Security and privacy get a very good chapter.Not only are issues presented regarding keeping user's information confidential, but cautions are also presented regarding keeping the server secure.SQL injection attacks are discussed, as are defenses against them.Hint: use MySQL's quote() function.

The book closes with a chapter on writing an eCommerce application.All the techniques used in the book are brought together in one application, and it is shown (very well) how they all relate to each other.While the resulting eCommerce application is extremely simple in regards to what it can do, it effectively shows the reader the power of MySQL and Perl together, and provides an excellent reference when writing applications of one's own.

I am a system administrator, and have done a good chunk of web site design (mostly the technical side) and programming.I've been using Perl since 1996, and MySQL with that since 2000 (used mSQL before that).So, yes, I had quite a bit of Perl and DB experience before I read the book.I say that to say this: I still learned things.There were tips and techniques in there that I hadn't thought of, and will make my job just a bit easier the next time I use Perl to write a MySQL based application.Even if you have some Perl and MySQL experience under your belt, the book will still be useful.

An excellent book on both MySQL and Perl.
There are plenty of books about MySQL and PHP in bookstores. Yet, I still prefer Perl as my web page languages, thanks to its powerful regex and the similarity to C grammar (Some functions have exactly the same name and take the same arguments as in C).

For web applications, a backend database is necessary (MySQL). But how to access and operate on these dabatases? Perl comes into scene at this point.

I don't understand why people write so many books on PHP and MySQL, and so few on Perl and MySQL. Up to now, Paul's book is the only one I ever saw to cover both MySQL and Perl's application in web pages.

Paul's method is step by step, and the examples are not trivial ones. And he clearly explained the critical parts of his code. He even wrote some packages which can be used as library.

Before reading his book, I feel curious how the dynamic web pages work. Now, after finishing his book, I can understand how a commercial site such as Amazon works.

Finally, I recommend this book be bought with the other title by Paul - "MySQL". This is the book dedicated to MySQL language. It is a good companion to "MySQL and Perl for the Web".

This is the most important book in my library (of over 300)
Like many others, I wish I'd seen this book long ago.

The attention to detail and accuracy of the examples is just incredible!

This is by far the most used reference book in my library.After repeatedly having to tape the book together, I finally gave it away and bought a new one.

Following his examples eliminates many potentialpitfalls that would otherwise result in hours of troubleshooting.

I can't imagine how I would have ever learned this information without the expert advice of the author, Paul DuBois.His coverage of CGI.pm is essential as well as his list of other books to read.

I think I have all his other books as well.

He even returned email almost immediately!

My only complaint is that it isn't bound in leather!

Clear explanations and excellent examples
This is an excellent book. I knew my way around Perl and had done a few relatively simple CGIs before being handed a project to build an application that would allow 50 or 60 employees to enter several thousand customer complaints and email them to the right recipients based on the complaint content. I had a three-week deadline.

I bought the book and started patching elements of the example applications together until I had everything almost working. One problem delayed me a couple of days so I emailed DuBois with a question and received a solution within the hour.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who has a moderate grasp of Perl and Apache. It's one of the most lucid computer books I've ever read.

MySQL and Perl but no templates?
This isn't a complete review but readers should be aware that this book does NOT cover templates (it doesn't appear in the contents or the index).There's no mention of Template Toolkit or HTML::Template, for example. (Text::Template and HTML::Mason get mentioned as an aside, but that's it)Similarly, there are three chapters on forms, but no mention of CGI::FormBuilder.

Seems like a big omission to me. YMMV. ... Read more

Product Description
This quick-reference guide to the Perl programming language provides acomplete overview of the language, from variables to input and output, fromflow control to regular expressions, from functions to document formats --all packed into a convenient, carry-around booklet.Updated to cover Perl version 5.003, this guide includes a summary ofPerl syntax rules, a complete list of standard library modules with briefdescriptions, and a precedence table for Perl operators. Perl 5 Desktop Reference is the perfect companion to LearningPerl, a carefully paced tutorial course by Randal L. Schwartz, and Programming Perl, the complete, authoritative reference workcoauthored by Perl developer Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, and Schwartz. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The book to have close at hand when learning perl
This quick reference guide to Perl 5.000 was always close at hand when I was learing Perl. It provided just enough detail to remind me of the sticky points of syntax and usage while being lean enough to find items fast. It is a truly useful companion to both the Camel book (Programming Perl, 2nd edition) and the Llama book (Learning Perl).

These days I don't use it as much, mainly because my knowledge of Perl has grown to the point where I have fewer questions of usage, but also because I have the CD-Rom edition of O'reilly's "Webmaster in a Nutshell" which contains a full text version of "Programming Perl". I can now look things up electronically in about the same time I could onpaper.

Perl's quirky syntax and the attitude built into the language of there's always more than one way to do it, makes having multiple reference sources a requirement, if only to find the Perl guru who thinks like you do. Vromans uses a clean, straightforward style which is a refreshing change from the sometimes too humorous style of Larry Wall and Randal Schwartz. ... Read more

Product Description
With its highly developed capacity to detect patterns in data, Perl has become one of the most popular languages for biological data analysis. But if you're a biologist with little or no programming experience, starting out in Perl can be a challenge. Beginning Perl for Bioinformatics is designed to get you quickly over the Perl language barrier by approaching programming as an important new laboratory skill, revealing Perl programs and techniques that are immediately useful in the lab. Each chapter focuses on solving a particular bioinformatics problem or class of problems, starting with the simplest and increasing in complexity as the book progresses. Each chapter includes programming exercises. By the end of the book you'll have a solid understanding of Perl basics, a collection of programs for such tasks as parsing BLAST and GenBank, and the skills to take on more advanced bioinformatics programming.Amazon.com Review
Biology, it seems, is a good showcase for the talents of Perl. Newcomers to Perl who understand biological information will find James Tisdall's Beginning Perl for Bioinformatics to be an excellent compendium of examples. Teachers of Perl will likewise find the text to be filled with fresh programming illustrations of growing scientific importance. Seasoned Perlmongers who want to learn biology, however, should search elsewhere, as Tisdall's emphasis is on Perl's logic rather than Mother Nature's.

Departing from O'Reilly's earlier monograph Developing Bioinformatic Computer Skills, Tisdall's text is organized aggressively along didactic lines. Nearly all of the 13 chapters begin with twin bullet lists of Perl programming tools and the bioinformatic methods that require them. Likewise, the chapters end with exercises. String concatenation is illustrated with gene splicing, and regular expressions are taught with gene transcription and motif searching.

Tisdall emphasizes sequence examples throughout, leading up to an introduction to a Perl interface for the NIH GenBank biological database and the widely used BLAST sequence alignment tool. After a brief discussion of three-dimensional protein structure, he returns to sequence extraction and secondary structure prediction.

Tisdall's goal is to boost the beginning programmer into a domain of self-learning. He imparts essential etiquette for the success of programming newbies: use the wealth or resources available, from user documentation to Web site surveys to FAQs to How-To's to news groups and finally to direct personal appeals for help from a senior colleague. A well-plugged-in bioinformatics Perl student will soondiscover Bioperl, an open-source effort to bring research-grade bioinformatic tools to the Perl community. Bioperl is described briefly at the end of Tisdall's book and will reportedly be a forthcoming title of its own in the O'Reilly bioinformatics series.

Although he introduces bioinformatics as an academic discipline, Tisdall treats it as a trade throughout his book. He indicates that open questions and computational hard problems exist, but does not describe what they are or how they are being tackled. Ultimately, Tisdall presents bioinformatics as another arrow in a bench scientist'squiver, very much like HPLC, 2D-PAGE, and the various spectroscopies.

As odd as a "bioinformatics-as-tool" book may be to its research proponents, the reduction of bioinformatics to trade status both deflates and vindicates the years of research, as Tisdall's work attests. --Peter Leopold ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Not really for beginners!
It seems to be a very good book, but not basic at all! You need to know a lot of perl language before using this book.

I loved this book:
If you haven't programmed in perl before, this book is perfect for learning.It also teaches very low level bioinformatics skills that'd probably help an undergraduate get their next internship.I was clueless to perl, and programming for that matter, when I got this book a long time ago.I painfully flipped each page from front to back, because it 'is' a technical book, and absorbed everything as much as possible.This book set me off in a direction that I never imagined.Although we're on the brink of version six of the language, this book will do you right in any aspect of computer programming.For a 'beginner' looking to get into any language, this book is for you.It's painful, but try and take the time to really learn the information the book presents.It not only teaches you perl, but gives you a peek into the numerous databases and resources that exist as well as a terrific job of teaching you how to use regular expressions.

In the end, you'll have the foundation to become whatever kind of perl programmer you desire.If you're looking into bioinformatics, or a bioinformatician looking to learn, I recommend this book as well as 'Programming Perl', 'Mastering Perl for Bioinformatics', and 'BLAST'.'BLAST' is fairly easy to breeze through and does a good job of explaining everything you would need to know.'Mastering Perl...' picks up where this book left off, and 'Programming Perl' is one of the best buys I ever made, in regards to perl.I know these are all O REILLY books, but they're probably the best source for perl books out there.I'm not pitching their books either.Lastly, if you have the time I recommend you crunch on through 'CGI Programming with Perl'.Although the book is a bit out of date, it's definitely another 'piece' of the puzzle for someone to become a LAMP programmer.

good book for biologists
Very good book in perl for those biologist trying to merge their career into bioinformatics.

Beginning Perl is an excellent book.
Beginning Perl for Bioinformatics is an excellent, well-written text for the non-specialist person who wishes to program in perl.Although perl is indeed very powerful some concepts are rather unique and difficult to grasp if one understands other scripting languages.For a beginner, the book provides the necessary detail as required so as to progress rapidly.I would recommend it highly.

Great for Biologist that Don't Know How to Program
If you know anything about how to program then this book is NOT for you.This book is more geared towards biologists that know nothing about programming.If you fall in this category I recommend this book for you.Seriously, buy it and learn how to program so you can stop bugging people with better things to do to parse your BLAST output and FASTA files for you.In this day and age there is no reason why a biologist shouldn't have basic scripting abilities. ... Read more

Product Description
"Overall, highly recommended for anyone using Perl at a less than expert level. That's probably a lot of us..."— Tony Lawrence, Information and Resources for Unix and Linux Systems

Over the years, Perl has grown from an elegant scripting tool into a mature and full-featured language for application development, boasting object-oriented programming, a flexible threading model, built-in support for Unicode, and a thriving community. Available on almost every platform, and offering a comprehensive library of modules, there is no task too big or small for Perl to tackle.

Pro Perl helps you master the key features and complexities of this powerful language. Aimed at intermediate and advanced developers alike, the material assumes some general knowledge of programming concepts but not necessarily prior Perl experience. However, given the expansive coverage of core language topics, Pro Perl also serves as a valuable guide to seasoned Perl programmers seeking to push their proficiency to the next level.

Using a depth-first approach to aid learning of advanced concepts, you're provided with detailed examinations of many key topics, including regular expressions, networking, modules and packages, object-oriented development, and much more. Pro Perl seeks to provide developers with not only the answers to their programming questions, but also advanced ideas and related concepts that expand the developer's understanding of Perl as a language.

This edition of Pro Perl offers updated and expanded content, and improved organization by combining material from previous editions of Professional Perl Programming and Professional Perl Development. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Comprehensive, but excessively wordy
I think this 1000 page book would make a fantastic 500 page book.I think the information provided is first-rate, but there much repetition and wordiness -- that it makes it a little hard to wade through.

I think it could be the "the best" Perl book, but it needs serious editing work to get it there.

But, whatever you want to know about the Perl language, you can find -- it's just a matter of wading through the verbiage to get there.

Pro Perl Book Review
This was a wonderful purchase.I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money so I decided to go with one of the used book versions to save some money.This seller was wonderful, the book was in great condition (much better than I had expected), and the service was terrific, quick and hassle-free.The book, itself, is just what I wanted.It doesn't cover all the topics one might want; but I needed a single reference that I could keep near one of my work sites where it wasn't practical to have several references on Perl.This book is exactly what I had hoped it would be; a really good, quick reference for most of the things I need.

Did anyone proof this? Where are the errata?
I'm only up to page 140 and there are numerous code errors. Some examples:

1) There is a reference to "Appendix A" but there are no appendices in my copy.

2) p 139: he suggests that the expression "\[1, 2, 3]" will return an array reference, but this is actually returning a reference to a reference to an array, using 2 levels rather than 1 level of indirection. This wouldn't be crucial except that this is the section of the chapter/book in which he is specifically explaining references.

Further, while there is a link to submit errata, there is no link for a place to view/download them. Other reviewers have mentioned the frequency of this kind of error.

This book would be a very bad source for someone truly new to perl.

Refence Manual, Plus So Much More
One of my arguments with Perl, which ironically is one of its strengths, is that it is such a powerful language there are perhaps thousands of things that you will never use, or not even know about that the language can do.Once a language relegated to scripting-use only, it has developed over the years into a full-featured language around which applications are being developed from.For example, there are numerous front-end web applications that are built around Perl not to mention in my own line of work we use a number of Perl applications to process and manipulate incoming data.The little kid has finally grown up and matured!

In Pro Perl, the author takes you through an in-depth analysis of the Perl language from the beginning topics up to advanced topics (including a relatively new one for Perl, Object Oriented programming).Many Perl books have a habit of either showing you the basics, and leaving you yearning for more; or showing you advanced topics that you are left scratching your head wondering "How did they jump from A to Z with no in-between"?In Pro Perl the author has taken an approach of explaining the concepts and walking you through the introduction and leading you to the more advanced topics without breaking it into distinct pieces of beginning, novice, etc.The book can be considered more of a instructional reference manual more than a code-snippet type book, which many programming books are nowadays.

One of the benefits this book offers is that throughout the book there are multiple reference charts and tip sidebars that either give you information on a syntax or available options, or lead you on to find more information elsewhere.Personally, I find the reference charts valuable as the author does not leave you guessing what all the available options or for a particular command or syntax -- in essence, he is opening the door for you to explore further on your own by showing you other possible roads.

This is a great book for those comfortable with programming and new to Perl, or those who have used Perl in the past but perhaps wanted to see what else it could do for them. The only thing lacking from the book is an indexing system on the side.It would have been great if you could have just flipped the book open to the appropriate section when you are on those fast-fact-finding missions.

This has become one of my favorite references
This is a very comprehensive book for those who want to learn the Perl language from the ground up.The author does an excellent job of being detailed without being repetitive or writing at too basic a level.Intermediate users of Perl can find a lot here but even a novice will find sufficient explanation to allow them to learn the language from scratch.The book is well organized and starts with an introduction to Perl followed by how to acquire and install Perl.From there it goes right into the meat of the language with variables, operators, data types, interpolation, substitution, subroutines, regular expressions, working with files and directories, etc.Besides the language itself the author deals with some of the common administrative tasks like adding new modules and packages.The book ends with some advanced topics like embedding Perl and dealing with processes, signals and threads, and networking.

At 990 pages this is a massive book that is easy to follow and full of examples to show exactly how each concept should work.Pro Perl is highly recommended to everyone from the complete novice to advanced level Perl programmer and includes a lot of detail that I have spent hours on the Internet looking for before. ... Read more

Product Description
It is no longer enough for today's software engineers to be able to program the computer and debug programs - the modern programmer needs to know how to program the network and debug communications. This book shows you how, using Perl.

Originally created as a tool for System Administrators, the Perl Programming languauge has matured into a powerful, yet easy-to-use, general-purpose programming language. Widely used on the Internet, Perl is the programming language of choice when it comes to adding dynamic content to websites using the Common Gateway Interface (CGI). Its strengths - simplicity, power and adaptability - make it an excellent vehicle with which to study computer networking and to program computer networks in general.

In Programming the Network with Perl, Paul Barry applies Perl to the study of tradiitonal computer networking topics. After an introductory tutorial to the Perl programming language appropriate for the non-Perl programmer, five key computer networking topics are examined from the perspective of the software engineer using Perl.

• Snooping details the creation of a successively more functional set of Ethernet Network Analaysers and cumulates in the development of The Network Debugger, a tool for monitoring the traffic generated by both standard and custom-built networked applications.
• Sockets details how to use Perl to create custom networked applications by programming the TCP/IP transport protocols (TCP and UDP), using the Client/Server Model and the standard Berkeley Socket API.
• Protocols details just how easy it is to program the HTTP (web), SMTP (e-mail), NNTP (news) and TELNET (remote login) protocols with Perl. HTML parsing is also described.
• Management uses Perl to program the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), the cornerstone network management technology on the modern Internet.
• Mobile Agents is a presentation of one of the technologies that can be added to Perl to provide for the development of custom networked applications that can transport themselves from network device to network device while executing.

The associated website provides Perl links, downloadable source code, presentation materials (in PDF format), and instructions for joining the pertnetbook discussion mailing list. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Exactly what I had hoped for
I have a couple of other network programminng books but was never satisfied with them.I'm not a network geek and needed to get some basics under my belt as I needed to do some data mining on the net for work.This book renovated my confidence in my ability to learn and to implement.I had my solution up and running pretty quickly based on the info I learned from the book.Exactly what I had hoped for.I highly recommend this one. ... Read more

Product Description
In each column, Randal ... carefully discusses the problem, and then shows the Perl code needed to resolve it. Each column is written in a conversational style that is easy to read, yet doesn't talk down to you.Check out the table of contents and see why it made my mouth water. If you are a Perl fan, you will enjoy this. Highly recommended.

Randal Schwartz's Perls of Wisdom is a collection of more than 70 columns from popular and prolific Perl columnist Randal Schwartz. These insightful pieces cover everything from Perl basics to how to decompose XML using an HTML parser. Schwartz's unique writing style and (sometimes) truly twisted use of Perl makes for exciting reading for those who want to enhance their Perl skills.

Customer Reviews (8)

Enjoyable, if dated
I really enjoyed this book - I haven't had to write Perl consistently in years, but programming, ultimately, is programming, and the book shows clear thinking the whole way through. Many of the problems tackled aren't big issues anymore, of course, but it's still a great read.

David Berube
Berube Consulting

Some good, some not so good
Not that useful if you've been around Perl a while.Biggest annoyance - leader blurbs that tell you that what you're about to read is out of date and something better is already out there.

Useful tidbits abound
It's amazing how much Perl knowledge is crammed into some people and Randal Schwartz has more than his fair share!

His articles are concise and cogent. You might want to complain about the layout somewhat, but collections rarely fit into neat categories and these columns are no exception.

While quite a bit of this makes use of tools and techniques that I have not found use for yet in my work, it has made me think about implementing a few things for my own personal joy. And by pawing through the examples and the code, I picked up a tidbit or two that I had not thought of or considered before, especially in Section 5, The Webmaster's Toolkit. I can't wait to try some of it out!

If there's to be any complaint, it's that some articles (as the author admits) have had their core ideas superceded by newer additions to Perl. It might have been nice to find addenda to these articles, showing some updated coding, rather than having it left up to the imagination. Still, it's not enough of a complaint to rate this as anything less than a 5-start masterwork.

Messy, even for an article book
It's not in my nature to like article compilation books and this one seems actually a little worse than usual to me. The content is all over the place and the formatting should have at least gone through some sort of standardization process. I find this kind of book very lazy. At the very least, be sure check the outline to make sure what's being covered matters to you before spending the money on this one.

Great help!
Randal Schwartz is PERL.He is the PERL man.

I know PERL very well, but even I learned a lot from this great book. ... Read more

Product Description
This complete guide to the Perl programming language ranges widely through the Perl programmer's universe, gathering together in a convenient form a wealth of information about Perl itself and its application to CGI scripts, XML processing, network programming, database interaction, and graphical user interfaces. The book is an ideal reference for experienced Perl programmers and beginners alike.In this second edition, Perl in a Nutshell has been expanded to include the latest version of Perl (5.7), with information on Unicode processing in Perl, new functions and modules that have been added to the core language, and up-to-date details on running Perl on the Win32 platform.The book also covers Perl modules for recent technologies such as XML and SOAP.As part of the successful "in a Nutshell" book series from O'Reilly & Associates, Perl in a Nutshell is for readers who want a single reference for all their needs.Amazon.com Review
Perl in a Nutshell strives to be a perfect set ofsocket tools for the active Perl programmer. By and large, itsucceeds, providing endless and well-thought-out lists and tables onthe language's modules, flags, and extensions. The authors brieflyaddress basic learner's questions--such as the difference between ahash and an array--but these concepts are not the purpose of thebook. (Those new to Perl would be better off with others in theO'Reilly Perl series, such as Learning Perl, whileprogrammers making the switch to Perl can pick up the nuances of thelanguage with ProgrammingPerl.) This book is pure Perl reference, briefly coveringPerl/Tk (for GUI Perl programs on Unix and Windows 95/NT) and Perl forWin 32.

The authors do start at the very beginning, and even in aself-described "desktop quick reference" find the time to comment onless urgent--but still interesting--Perl-related matters (like how tofind online help amidst the "Perl culture"). The format of the bookmakes sections on topics such as Perl debugging easily understandable,illustrating how to make an interactive and timesaving environment.

Of particular convenience is the outstanding section on the standardPerl modules. A four-page "quick look" allows you to easily scanthrough short definitions of all the modules and find the entry you'relooking for. An index with full definitions for each module follows,showing you how to use each module and providing a more in-depthexplanation (and often, examples). Perl in a Nutshellconcludes--as you might expect--with an excellent andwell-cross-referenced index. --Jennifer Buckendorff ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

Review for Perl in A Nutshell
Like New. In very good condition. No markings. I am happy with what I purchased and got.

Excellent
I have a shelf of Perl books from O'Reilly, from the Quick Reference to Advanced Perl Programming.This tends to be my first grab when I am looking for something.A bit thick when I am on the road, so I fall back to the Quick Reference, and whenever I do, I find I miss having the Nutshell book (with all my notes in the margins :)If I can't find it in this book, I jump to the Perl Reference most often.

I've used Perl for several years and love this book
Exactly as advertised, "Perl in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference" is a great reference book if you already have a basic understanding of Perl.Although it does have a section that it refers to as an "Introduction to Perl" it is actually a pretty cursory introduction and there are better books for learning the basics of Perl.

The book does have an excellent section on installing Perl including installation on both the Unix and Windows platforms.I've worked with both platforms and the installation process is well documented including how to install modules.This brings us to the large chapter on getting and installing Perl modules.I have spent hours sometimes trying to find an appropriate module for a special situation.This chapter lists all the most common modules and includes descriptions of what they do.This alone makes it a valuable resource for anyone involved in Perl.

The authors also include a lot of technical information including command line options and environment variables as well as a section on program structure, data types, special variables, operators, expressions, subroutines, filehandles, and just about anything else that you might need a quick refresher on.

Functions are listed both by category and by alphabetical order with descriptions and syntax information.I had a couple of problems on a large project recently and it took three days to get an answer through the forums on the Internet.The answers to all of them are right here and I could have saved myself a lot of trouble if I had had this book then.

A lot of other information is available in the book including CGI programming, Webserver programming, database programming, SOAP, Network modules including Net, Mail, NNTP, FTP, and LDAP, Perl/Tk, Win32 Modules and Extensions, OLE Automation, and ODBC Extensions.This book will be the one I keep close at hand when working with Perl and deserves its location on my desktop instead of in the library."Perl in a Nutshell" is highly recommended for Perl programmers from basic to advanced level.

A handy reference, but...
This is a handy reference, but if you have a limited budget you should probably go with Programming Perl and the Perl Cookbook before this one. This is a fine reference but it doesn't have the depth that the other books have and the information on the modules is available online through CPAN. I have the entire Perl library on my bookshelf and I hardly ever pick this one up.

Great reference!
I am not a beginning programmer nor am I what you would call an expert.Having a background in PHP made Perl easy to learn, so I didn't need a book that would "teach" Perl.All I needed was a good reference to figure out the differences between PHP and Perl.This book did exactly that!I was able to start programming within a day and I have referenced this book more times than I can count during my most recent development efforts.The binding is nearly worn out!I recommend this book to intermediate programmers that only need a small boost to get to work.If you're a beginner, buy this book to use after you learn the basics and you'll find it to be one of the most valuable tools on your desk! ... Read more

Product Description
This one goes on the 'keeper' shelf, for sure.

— Tony Lawrence, aplawrence.com

Combining the best features of C, UNIX utilities, and regular expressions, Perl has grown as one of the most powerful and popular scripting languages. The valuable Perl is often used forsystem administration, text processing and Web programming. It is even being used for more exotic areas, like bioinformatics. Perl is supported by all of the most prominent operating systems, including Windows, Unix, OS/2, Amiga, and others.

Pro Perl Debugging steps in to help resolve the dilemma of application testing and debugging&emdash;one of the biggest time commitments in a programmer's daily routine. What this book will do is rescue you from substandard application testing practices. The book commences with several chapters that overview the debugger's basic features, then covers common debugging scenarios. The concluding portion examines debugger customization, alternative debugging utilities, and debugging best practices.

Customer Reviews (6)

Five for content, Two or Three for Accuracy ...
Another reviewer said it best: while this book takes a laudable stab at demystifying the Perl debugger, the little errors are enough to drive one bats.

It goes without saying, or should do, that if your material depends on specific content being at specific lines of code, then the source file(s) you provide need to have that content at those line numbers, and not just "in the ballpark." I have already tried to plow through this book's Chapter 3 twice & have twice wound up wanting to throw the book across the room. And the typos, etc. are not limited to this kind of thing.

The authors write well, and the subject has interest, but someone did a poor job somewhere of making sure the finished product (including the downloadable source code) was a useful package.

Please, APress, revisit this one! Please revisit as well the apparent [APress website] policy of allowing readers to submit errata but not view the ones that have already been submitted. To be able to pre-correct one's copy would be a real timesaver for those of us following along in the code.

Nice Perl debugging reference
I was the print/warn debugging type of person before starting my current $job. I knew that there is this command `perl -d ...` but did not really used it. Just tried a few times and then returned back to good ole print(). However, when you are dealing with some HUGE codebase that you did not write (or wrote it 6 months ago), that print/warns can not help you all the time. While using a logging mechanism is also good, it will have limits too. You'll definitely need to use the debugger to see the program flow and test the code while executing it, etc.

Unfortunately, I saw this book rather late. It goes beyond the standard debugger usage and explains most topics in this area. It even encourages you to compile a separate debugging enabled version of perl and discusses lots of different debugging techniques.

A must have for every serious Perl programmer.

quite useful, but deserves a second edition
When I first saw a listing for this book, I assumed it was going to be a book about debugging Perl -- the title sort of led me in that direction.I thought it would give an overview of the common mistakes made by Perl programmers, how to catch them, how to correct them, and how to avoid making them in the first place.When I asked about the book, though, I found out that it's a book all about the Perl debugger.I use the debugger daily, and I only use a few of its features, so I was pretty excited about the book -- and even more excited to be getting a copy to review.

The only other book that really focuses on the debugger, as far as I know, is the Perl Debugger Pocket Reference, also by Richard Foley.I picked that up for $10 or so at a TPF auction and found it to be a decent pocket reference.I was hoping, though, that now I'd have a book that would cover the debugger in depth, soup to nuts.

Pro Perl Debugging does that, and it does it fairly well.It begins by explaining how and why the debugger can be used, and then introduces the most basic debugger commands.Subsequent chapters introduce new families of commands and options, and these new features are demonstrated through the use of the debugger on example code.Once all the commands and most of the options have been explained, there are a few chapters on specific challenges in debugging: forking and threading, debugging networked applications (like CGI apps), and regex debugging.The last few chapters cover GUI debugger frontends, profiling and optimizing, and the Perl compiler.

The book covers everything that I think it needs to cover, and covers it well enough that with some coding along, the reader can learn how to use the debugger and nearly all its features.

With all that said, though, I have to add that I think Pro Perl Debugging is an adequate book and not a great one.There are a number of technical errors in the book; most of these are just little mistakes that probably crept in because there was insufficient testing of the examples.While they're minor, they seem sure to cause confusion for readers who try the examples as they go.The examples themselves often seem arbitrary, and don't contribute much to the explanation of new features.At no point in the book did I ever think, "This example really made the usefulness of that new feature very clear."Usually, the feature's usefulness is self-evident, though.Unfortunately, some features are somewhat obscure, and are never very well explained.The dot command, which resets the working position to the current execution point, is particularly confusing.I only fully understood it after piecing together statements made about it across several chapters.The debugger prompt (a related issue) is also poorly explained, with some of its features never discussed.

The book's typographic conventions are ill-suited to the book's material, and in some cases seem to change from chapter to chapter.There is no distinction in the examples between user-entered text and debugger output.Editorial changes to the sample output (elisions, for example) are not handled in a consistent way.The structure of the book is also frustrating.Some chapters appear much later than seems appropriate (that on using the debugger as a REPL, for one).Others repeat material covered earlier.Finally, each chapter begins with a quotation.While this is sometimes a fun addition to an otherwise bland text, here the quotes seem random and the segue from quote to material is often strained.

I'm glad to have a copy of this book, and I've definitely learned some things from it.(Did you know that your debugger can spawn new xterms to handle forked processes?)I really hope that the book gets a second edition, because it has the potential to be an essential book for professional Perl programmers.

Invaluable
I am an experienced Perl developer and I've been using Perl debugger for years, and yet this book has paid for itself in less than an hour! It includes a couple of sample debugging sessions to familiarize the reader with the debugger commands, and offers multiple helpful tips on saving and replaying command history and setting environment variable to control the behavior of the debugger. And then it moves on to things that I was considering either hard or impossible.

Debugging live CGI scripts running under control of a web server - make Apache drop you into a debugger session after receiving a request, when using either traditional CGI or mod_perl.

Setting compile-time breakpoints to debug the code that runs BEFORE the first executable line in the script.

Debugging processes that fork multiple copies of themselves, controlling each instance through a separate debugger window.

The list goes on - if you do any development in Perl, this book will save you hours of work. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Perl has a Debugger?
Perl is one of the easiest language for doing "quirk and dirty" tasks, such as text manipulation and writing command-line utilities for your OS of choice.However, as any Perl programmer can tell you debugging can be a nightmare and most of rely on the old-fashioned print statement to aid most of our debugging work.As powerful as Perl is, one of the drawbacks has always been its lack of an efficient way to debug and test the code.Too often than not more time is spent debugging the code than actually writing the logic to do the task at hand!

In Pro Perl Debugging, Richard Foley and Andy Lester introduce and explain the rarely-seen, often under-utilized Perl Debugger (What?You didn't know one existed; fear not, neither did I until I read this book!).Each chapter takes you through the steps of using the debugger and introduces various new concepts throughout.Chapters are further subdivided into three sections that cover more broader topics such as the final section which is devoted to mainly reference and optimization of techniques learned in the previous sections.

You will learn the concept of what the authors term fixing the bug instead of merely finding the bug.As they point out, a lot of us pursue the task of finding a bug only to introduce other bugs as we try to pinpoint it down.This book provides a working guide to help you migrate from the print statement and sloppy code searching into a more defined, technique driven approach using the debugger.

The book is a great source for the experienced Perl programmer who wants to get a better handle over bug control and code debugging techniques.I would caution beginning Perl users to get a grasp first more on the language before diving into use of the debugger as it can be complex at times.However, seasoned Perl programmers will find a lot of the concepts and techniques given to be a great timesaver and tool for use within programs that both already exist and on the drawing board.
... Read more