Product Description
The Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is one of the most powerful methods of providing dynamic content on the Web. CGI is a generic interface for calling external programs to crunch numbers, query databases, generate customized graphics, or perform any other server-side task. CGI programs can be written in any programming language, but Perl is by far the most popular language for CGI. CGI programmers appreciatePerl's text manipulation features and its CGI.pm module, which givesan well-integrated object-oriented interface to practically allCGI-related tasks. Based on the best-selling CGI Programmingon the World Wide Web, this edition has been completely rewrittento demonstrate current techniques available with the CGI.pm moduleand the latest versions of Perl. Topics include incorporating JavaScript for form validation,controlling browser caching, making CGI scripts secure in Perl,working with databases, creating simple search engines,maintaining state between multiple sessions, generatinggraphics dynamically, and improving performance of CGI scripts.Amazon.com Review
The appearance of the second edition of CGI Programming with Perl heralds the beginning of the neoclassical era of Web service. CGI--or common gateway interface--is the original back end for client-driven, dynamic Web-page service and deserves consideration as the Romulus of the Internet Empire. But, where first-edition author Gundavaram described the lonely Romulus laying the brick foundation of dynamic Web-page service in 1996, second-edition collaborators Guelich and Birznieks have pitched in to resurrect Romulus amid the crowded streets of modern Rome. Why bother? Surely four years have brought technological revolutions (Java, PHP, ASP, ColdFusion) that render CGI's original brick-by-brick approach as obsolete as, say, Roman mythology--or bricks and mortar.

And yet not. It is an ambiguous blessing that the original CGI persists, adhering to the underside of Web service by the duct tape that is Perl. This point is not missed by Guelich, Gundavaram, and Birznieks, whose advocacy of CGI is both bolstered by the growing applications module base of Perl and tempered by their awareness of CGI's structural limitations. Both new and returning readers of CGI Programming with Perl should browse the last chapter first in order to appreciate the proposed solutions to CGI's greatest sin: its impractical slowness in a world of a million-hits-per-day Web service. The chapter describes CGI-compatible FastCGI and mod_perl technologies that circumvent the process-spawning slowness of the simple CGI. Advanced users might want to skip directly to O'Reilly's fine mod_perl tome, Writing Apache Modules with Perl and C, by Lincoln Stein and Doug MacEachern.

The authors' second pass at CGI pedagogy is a lucid, honest, and expanded account that develops functionality of dynamic Web pages in a rational progression--from HTML client-server and CGI syntax basics to general input/output, forms, e-mail, graphics, and simple database applications, including maintaining client state and data persistence under the otherwise stateless HTTP protocol. The authors offer synopses of cookies, JavaScripting, server security, and XML, all of which are described in detail in other books.

Whether or not neoclassical CGI is fast enough for your purposes--perhaps for guarded intranets--bear in mind that CGI is the standard to which every other Web server has had to respond. The second edition of CGI Programming with Perl is still the best introduction to the classics. --Peter Leopold ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

Write an outline before you start writing a book
Fairly good content, but hideously organized.The book jumps all over the place and really lacks the coherence I've come to expect from O'Reilly books.I used "Learning Perl" to get pretty good with Perl in two weeks.The book on HTML is terrific as well.A good "Learning CGI" book to lead into this one would be nice I think.

Great in it's day
When the first edition came out, it was an atypical O'Reilly book; they were known for publishing guides for working programmers, but this was more of an introduction to a topic instead of a reference.

The problem is that it's not 1998 anymore.The technology this book explains (quite clearly!) really isn't used that much anymore, save by people who already know Perl quite well and want to leverage that skill to simple web scripts.

PHP, Python, Java, and Ruby all come to mind as a few of the modern approaches to the same topic.

After the errata, then what . . .
I've got the July 2000 printing and was amazed at the errata and the errata items yet to be "confirmed"!As an example of the latter, just beyond half-way through the book there's an address book cgi script some 10 pages in length of which only the first page or so is explained.The script is an attempt to use the Perl DBI along with the DBD::CSV modules (utilizing SQL statements) to explain the database role in "Data Persistance"!The problem is that the "getQueryResults" subroutine in the script doesn't return any records when searching for particular field values (and returns every record in the database if no values are entered in the "search" form).In addition the "doUpdate" module reports that an update has been completed when in reality there has been no change to the database!If you're planning on using the book to learn some CGI with Perl, then you're going to be set back by this and other code malfunctions scattered throughout the book!

Even though it's a step up from the CGI Primer Plus for Windows book (and gets a 4 star rating), it still leaves much to be desired for the person who learns by coding!

A good place to start
I purchased "CGI Programming with Perl" thinking it was, like many O'Reilly books, a bible of programming how-to for the working programmer. It's not. What it is, in fact, is a pretty good introduction to writing CGIs with Perl for someone who has some basic knowledge of Perl and HTTP, but who has never done any CGI programming. And that's just the position I was in when I bought it.

The first third of the book is introductory in nature, with an introduction to how forms and CGI scripts work, some discussion of parsing forms in other languages, and some simple examples. The bulk of the book contains more complex examples of tasks like writing questionaires, interfacing with relational databases, maintaining state, graphics and so forth. I did glean a lot of useful information there.

The biggest problem with this book is a problem that's really common to all book on Internet programming: Standards are changing so fast that a year old book is likely to contain chapter upon chapter illustrating obsolete techniques and libraries. In "CGI Programming" there are a lot of examples using Perl modules that haven't really caught on, while some of the newer modules (obviously) aren't meantioned. Another problem is that the book is kind of scattershot in the attention it gives different topics.

Still, I think this is one of the better books for someone with basic Perl skills looking to get started with CGIs. There's enough detail here to start writing CGIs, and enough information out there on the web to go on learning.

Okay, but not much there.
This is an okay book, but there's not much there. If you already know Perl and a little about CGI, there's not much to be had from this book. Learning Perl, Programming Perl and the Perl Cookbook (The O'Reilly one) will complete everything you need to know. This doesn't do much for you. ... Read more

Product Description
CGI Programming 101 takes you from the absolutebasics of writing CGI programs, to advanced topics such as databaseinteraction and using modules. The book includes:

* The Basics: where to write your scripts; how to upload them and set file permissions; how to run them

* How to decode form data and save it to a file or e-mail it to yourself

* How to create, read, write, and search data files

* How to use Server-Side Includes to add dynamic content to your web page, plus a complete list of Apache SSI directives (and examples of their use)

* How to use random numbers for rotating banner ads and random image pickers

* How to format strings, dates, and times, and how to create countdown clocks

* How to redirect visitors to another site

* How to write secure scripts

* How to use cookies

* How to extend your programs by using modules like CGI.pm and GD.pm

* How to create a MySQL database, and write scripts that interact with databases using the DBI module

Several Appendices are also included:

* A list of online resources, for more information about Perl and CGI, and where to look for CGI jobs

* A Unix tutorial, with examples and information on basic shell commands

* A Password tutorial that shows you how to password-protect your web siteAmazon.com Review
CGI Programming 101: Programming Perl for the World Wide Web is a concise presentation of the key elements of Perl CGI, which makes it perfect for programmers who are under the gun. If you need to get up to speed on text strings, for example, you can read that chapter and be a pro within about 10 minutes.

Form processing is addressed early on, followed by searching and sorting techniques, illustrations of how to use server-side includes (SSI), and other critical issues. There's also a chapter on using MySQL--an open-source SQL database. In general, if you want to get the most out of this book, you'll be better off having some programming experience, be it in BASIC or C++.

The only element missing from this introductory course is an appendix containing Perl's reserved characters, operators, and functions; instead, this material is presented throughout the book. But CGI Programming 101 is still one of the most efficient ways to get up to speed with Perl CGI. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: Perl variables, CGI environment variables, form processing, data file I/O, searching/sorting, server-side includes (SSI), random number generation, strings, date and time manipulation, HTTP cookies, e-mail processing, securing scripts, Perl modules, database programming, and custom Perl modules. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (46)

Best Concise Treatment Available
I have spent approx. $500 on Perl/CGI books and I will tell you that this is the best concise treatment available. There is no other book that provides as good an overview without leaving out critical issues, such file locking and security considerations. It remains my most frequently used reference. It is very well written and it does not go into unnecessary details.

My recommendation for anyone considering using Perl/CGI is to start with this book and then to build your library based on your specialized needs (algorithms, pattern matching, exotic data structures, etc). If all you wish to do is some solid Perl programming or to power up a basic web site, this is all you will need.

Do not forget to look at the free preview chapters available at the author's web site. You will also find the code for all the examples there, which I have found myself constantly reusing.

Excellent Starting Point!
If you are looking to learn Perl/CGI programming from the ground up, this is an excellent intro to the world of Internet programming with Perl.
The book, however, is UNIX-oriented; small chapter on Windows vs. UNIX would be a plus.

Loses values after first 40 pages
The first 40 pages are useful to give you the sense of howCGI functionality is implemented in Perl. However by staying away from the most used standard Perl module for CGI programming (i.e. the CGI module) except for a few pages towards the end, the reader is ill served (because they have to buy a book to get the real work done).

easy to read, excellent content
i am a fairly bad perl programmer. this book has helped me write some really smart (yet easy to understand) programs which i use everyday.

if you want to get to grips with perl and cgi, get your hands on this book. especially if you know nothing about perl or cgi...

although i recommend php as a better language!

Could this book be an BETTER!
This is an great book on perl, gets you started right off to the code, and is great for anyone looking to geting into perl, I my self was new to perl but not to programming, and found this book the best, teaching and reference book out there, it also give you links to all the source code, html, and working examples online, a must have for anyone getting into CGI perl. A++ ... Read more

Product Description

Advanced RenderMan: Creating CGI for Motion Pictures is precisely what you and other RenderMan users are dying for.Written by the world's foremost RenderMan experts, it offers thoroughly updated coverage of the standard while moving beyond the scope of the original RenderMan Companion to provide in-depth information on dozens of advanced topics.Both a reference and a tutorial, this book will quickly prove indispensable, whether you're a technical director, graphics programmer, modeler, animator, or hobbyist.

Explore the Power of RenderMan
* Use the entire range of geometric primitives supported by RenderMan.
* Understand how and when to use procedural primitives and level of detail.
* Master every nuance of the Shading Language.
* Write detailed procedural shaders using texture, displacement, pattern generation, and custom reflection models.
* Write shaders for special effects relating to volumes, custom lighting, and non-photorealistic media.
* Use antialiasing to ensure that your shaders are free of artifacts.
* Minimize the expense of rendering scenes by optimizing input.

Other Features from Advanced RenderMan
* Offers expert advice and instruction applicable to any RenderMan-compliant renderer.
* Filled with technical illustrations and many full-color representations of effects supported by the RenderMan standard.
* Includes a chapter reviewing key math and computer graphics concepts.Amazon.com Review
More powerful and inspiring than the superheroes it moves on the big screen, the RenderMan 3-D graphics engine pushes animation toward the photorealistic as anyone who has seen A Bug's Life, The Iron Giant, or the Toy Story can attest.Advanced RenderMan, written by two long-time employees of Pixar Animation and early participants who helped define the RenderMan standard, is a clear, concise, and technical exploration of this computer graphics and animation rendering tool.

The first section introduces RenderMan, computer graphics concepts, and mathematics, followed by a section on "Scene Description." This includes chapters on "Describing Models and Scenes in RenderMan" and "Handling Complexity in Photorealistic Scenes."

Sections 3 and 4, "Shading," and "Tricks of the Trade" supply the meat of the book and make it worth the cost of admission. These sections include examples and insight from not only a technical perspective but also a cinematic one. The chapter "Storytelling Through Lighting" should be required reading for beginning computer animation artists.

There are numerous color plates, including some rendering tests from Toy Story. These show the same scene (Andy's room) using different lighting and color palettes, each suggesting a different time of day.

Given the difficulty of the book's subject, 3-D artists or animators with limited technical chops, amateurs, or hobbyists might be better served by something more general. This is, however, an outstanding reference for CG technical directors or anyone with experience in graphics and 3-D programming. It is filled with coding examples used to create RenderMan shaders and case studies citing which techniques were used to create a specific look in, for example, Toy Story or A Bug's Life.

The book has no accompanying CD-ROM, but the publisher maintains a Web site from which code snippets and examples can be downloaded. At first, this may seem inconvenient and merely a way to cut production costs, but it's actually an excellent way to keep the examples current. The field of computer graphics and animation is moving at the speed of light, and the examples and tutorials must move with it. But have no fear--RenderMan is here. --Mike Caputo ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

new book in bad condition
I bought a new one but the cover is worn out and the printing is skewed. It is shaped like a trapezium.

If you use renderman, then you must have this book
This is pretty much the bible for anyone who uses renderman daily. Even if you are not a programmer this can be a great reference for those things the programmers talk about :)

One of the Greatest Technical Master Pieces Ever Written
It's been 3 years since the last review of this book. I'm writing this review at the end of 2009 so hopefully it will still speak as to how relevant this book still is. I'm a TD at a VisualFX studio in Santa Monica. I get tasked from time to time to write tools to make our production process more efficient. This time it was writing an instancer to load our geometry in at render time so we didn't have to wait for the RIB files to generate.

I got most of everything working, but was ending up with some random crashes that seemed almost impossible to trace through GDB or strace since they seemed to be all over the place. After some conversation with coworkers, we were able to track down the problem to how data was getting passed off to PRMan. However, if you've worked with PRMan at this level and have had to consult the RI spec day in day out, you might remember that one of the major holes is the lack of a detailed data layout scheme for data being passed from primitive variables to shaders.

Like an older viewer said, I spent hours one night look all over the net to find some information. Nothing too useful. Finally, I decided just to look up a keyword in Advanced Renderman to see what if it might possibly have some discussion in it. Boy did it ever! It describes in details how variables break down at the primitive level and how they're promoted as they're passed on to the shader. This discussion is done primitive type by primitive type. Even though it's so detailed, they're all in just a few paragraphs! Not some crazy laborious description that just hurts your head to read. It's amazing. I felt so foolish that I didn't look in Advanced RenderMan earlier.

This isn't the first time I've gone back to Advanced RenderMan and found details to a problem I'm working on. But I often second guess myself, there's just no way that one book could have almost all the answers to a particular subject. I'm happy to say I'm wrong.

The RI spec is great, but the wording makes certain things a bit hard to digest and you have to guess on a lot of things.

Advanced RenderMan is the exact opposite of that. It's so well written and easy to understand. It's like the Tyndale phrasing that the King James translators would eventually find themselves circling back to. Everything is succinct and well said.

It's almost 2010 and if you're serious about knowing RenderMan, specifically PRMan, on a very deep level - I would suggest you get 5 copies of this book. I'm not kidding. You'll need 4 to read and mark in and 1 to keep around in case one of the other 4 falls apart.

Great overview of the Renderman specs
The book covers everything from the basics of setting up a scene with lighting to writing your own shaders with detailed descriptions of the Renderman API.Overall, excellent overview for the intermediate graphics prefessional.

Delivers more than the title suggests
The world of computer graphics books is filled with fat, pricy tomes that are frankly little better than rehashes of the manual. "Advanced Renderman" is a completely different sort of book.

While Renderman is the ostensible subject, the authors actually cover the entire graphics workflow-- and explain the "why" of it all. Their section on anti-aliasing, for example, is concise, complete, and makes clear the implications of all those little doo-hickeys in 3DS -- you remember the AR explanation better, because its based around how rendering works, rather than how a particular application works (which may change in the next rev, anyway)

Smart guys, smart book-- highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
If you build web pages you may eventually want to add a guestbook, order form, page counter, or other interactive elements to your website. CGI Programming 101 explains how to do this in simple, easy-to-understand terms. The book shows you how to write useful, real-world web programs, starting with simple guestbook forms and building up to more advanced applications.

You'll learn:

* The Basics: where to write your CGI programs; how to upload them and set file permissions; how to run them, and how to debug them when things go wrong

* How to decode form data and save it to a file or e-mail it to yourself

* How to create, read, write, and search data files

* How to use Server-Side Includes to add dynamic content to your web site, plus a complete list of Apache SSI directives

* How to use random numbers for displaying banner ads and random images

* How to redirect visitors to another site

* How to extend your programs by using modules

* How to create a MySQL database, and write programs that interact with databases using the DBI module

* How to build an online shopping cart program

* How to e-mail attachments using a CGI program

* How to write secure programs, and protect your programs against hackers and spammers

* How to password-protect an area of your website

...and more.

The second edition has been substantially revised, with 100 pages of new material. It teaches good programming practices from the beginning, including use of the industry-standard CGI.pm Perl module. You'll learn how to protect your form-to-mail programs from being hijacked by spammers, how to build a cookie-based shopping cart, and how to develop a password-protected website. Quick-reference pages and an improved index help you find information easily.

There are also several online tutorials to help you set up your own web server and write CGI programs on any computer system - including Windows, Mac OS X, and Unix.Amazon.com Review
CGI Programming 101: Programming Perl for the World Wide Web is a concise presentation of the key elements of Perl CGI, which makes it perfect for programmers who are under the gun. If you need to get up to speed on text strings, for example, you can read that chapter and be a pro within about 10 minutes.

Form processing is addressed early on, followed by searching and sorting techniques, illustrations of how to use server-side includes (SSI), and other critical issues. There's also a chapter on using MySQL--an open-source SQL database. In general, if you want to get the most out of this book, you'll be better off having some programming experience, be it in BASIC or C++.

The only element missing from this introductory course is an appendix containing Perl's reserved characters, operators, and functions; instead, this material is presented throughout the book. But CGI Programming 101 is still one of the most efficient ways to get up to speed with Perl CGI. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: Perl variables, CGI environment variables, form processing, data file I/O, searching/sorting, server-side includes (SSI), random number generation, strings, date and time manipulation, HTTP cookies, e-mail processing, securing scripts, Perl modules, database programming, and custom Perl modules. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

zero to hero with this rocket powered book
I am not a professional programmer. But I do manage the website for the specialist engineering company I founded and run. I like to have "hands on" control of this very important window for our company to the rest of the world.

To increase the appeal of our website and increase the hit rate, I wanted to create some interactive web pages so the browsing public can generate specific information about our products, and to give them some useful applications to use which normally would cost significant money to buy. (We gain because they have to come to our website to use the application.)

A little research on Google revealed that Perl fitted the bill as the program of choice to use. Now I needed to learn Perl. A little more research came up with this book. I specifically wanted to work with numbers, creating and solving equations, and this book had a chapter on "Working with Numbers" (Chapter 9) so I bought it.

It took a little while to get the Apache version of Perl for Windows set up on my computer (the author's website could be a little clearer on how to do this)and get the "Hello World!" to come up on the screen. The big breakthrough was to create a little program to add two numbers together via the Internet on my browser. At that point, the main principles had clicked into place and I was away.

Within weeks, I was creating scripts two and three thousand lines long, taking full advantage of the range and power of Perl to draw graphs, create line drawings and solve complex equations. I created a full blown ordering system and database, which uses the web as a common network for my staff who need to access the database from different buildings on the factory site.

Throughout this process, when I needed a solution to a particular programming problem, I usually found it in my well thumbed copy of Jacqueline Hamilton's book. If I found that there was a bug somewhere in a particular routine, a careful re-read of the relevant part in the book usually came up with the reason why it was not working.

The more I programmed with Perl, the more I realised what a great book this is. I unreservedly recommend it for anyone wanting to learn Perl.

cgi101
This was a very good book to learn some Perl applications programming.The approach is more how to do a task rather than reviewing commands etc.I used it as a supplement to a more theoretical book.Very easy to get into and get started.

The "101" in the title should be taken seriously
The reason I gave this book 3 stars, when I found it of little use, is because the "101" suggests that it's for someone who knows nothing at all about the subject. So why not give it 5, if it is what it said it is? Because it's not enough about anything at all to be really useful- you can't possibly do much of any web development if this is your resource.

Examples? It spends 24 pages on learning perl. (And note that the 'info per page density' is low; lots of white space.) It touches on many aspects of perl, but not enough to do much of anything. So why include it? If you are going to show people how to use perl for web development, they need to first be more grounded in perl than they'll get out of 24 pages.Oh, and as for use of those 24 pages? An entire page is spent explaining how to determine the length of an array. To be fair, there are more examples of perl throughout the book.

Another: Regular Expressions get 8 lots-of-white-space-and-big-print pages. And the chapter on database access is sort of a whirlwind tour of MySQL.

So is the book useless? No, it's a 'toe in the water' book, and it feels kind of scattered. of course, you could then get the "102" book.

Or you could just buy one of those big, meaty books, which would actually be more useful. Making this book easy to read and non-threatening weakens it too much. Of course, this is also a quick and easy way to write a book.

Great book for new and experienced web designers
I bought this book when I first started designing web pages.That was 5 years ago and I still find this book helpful and easy to use.It is a great starting point for persons interested in web design.It has useful examples (I am still using some of these) to help get started.

The best book for beginners
This book is a great beginners guide as well as a reference booklet for veteran programmers.

Ms. Hamilton's style as an author is unbelieveably clean and understandable. ... Read more

Product Description
An essential technical programming reference for Web sites. Inconcise, clear language, this book explains how to write CGI programsto implement dynamic documents that provide interactivity andmultimedia features for Web sites using UNIX-based HTTP servers.Amazon.com Review
Nicely balanced treatment of CGI programming in both C, whichhas distinct performance advantages, and Perl, currently the mostpopular language for CGI. Written by the long-time maintainer of theUsenet comp.infosystems.www FAQ (and fellow Seattleite), ThomasBoutell. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

The seller was awesome.
The product got here in an efficient amount of time.

Unfortunately, this is one of those common cases of the teacher having the students get a book that turns out to be useless. The homework, projects, and tests aren't even based on this book. In fact, because of that, I hate this book.

Still, probably a great product for people that need it. Especially for those that know C language. It provides the PERFECT transition from C to Perl. There wasn't as much as I need in there, but this seems more like an introductory book.

Summary: Good intro book, especially for those that know C. Teachers suck.

Awesome book
I tried for a long time to get a handle on C.My background is PERL, and then later PHP, so i figured it might make sense for me to come at this from a web-based perspective.By chapter 4 I knew enough to start writing simple programs on my own (not using samples in the book).By the end of chapter 7 I was well versed enough to start more complex programs using PATH_INFO variables.Extremely good book.If you write web-based apps, and are thinking about learning C this is *the* book.

One reviewer mentioned something about screenshots looking old, which is true, they are obviously Netscape 1, running on Unix's now ancient Motif window manager, but the concepts are all still exactly the same.The cgi's you write will look the same on Netscape 1, as they do on Seamonkey, or IE, or Safari so that's no big deal.

I gave it a 5 because the concepts contained inside are very well written easy to understand and this is the only book that has given me a decent base on which to learn C.

If I could change my rating now, I'd give it a 3 or 4.I wrote some more complex CGI's based on some of the ones in this book that didn't work.So for kicks I copied the source from the cd and tried to just compile those...gcc refused saying I hadn't declared strcmp().:-/

Indeed, I did a 'gcc *' in the SOURCE/C dir and didn't end up with a single a.out file.They all gave errors either on strcmp, feof, fgets, fprintf, in, isspace, fclose, and numerous others.

Still an excellent book but things have changed a lot since it was written.

Hey Thomas!How 'bout a Second Edition?:-)

A very good book
I bought this book around 1998.It was the only book that cover
CGI and C, the rest talked about PERL which I hadnt learned yet.

Once the reader learns the basics (assuming they already know 1 of the 2 languages and have a webserver to play with), they should be able to construct any CGI program in almost any language.

CGI Programming in C & Perl
An EXCELLENT buy -- you don't have to be a "Pro" to use the programs here -- but you can't be a rookie either... Get it "New" or "Used"--the price difference is insignificant--compared to what's inside the book....I bought this book a few months ago--here on AMAZON--and was delighted to find this book contained entire (web)-C-programs that ACTUALLY WORKED! If your web-server(CGI-scripts) are runnning at a crawl...it's probably because you are running a "convenient-scripting-language" -- instead of a C-program!! This book is NOT long-winded, but very practical. I have seen (repackaged???-or-similar)-versions of this code running on a few of the "higher-profile" web-sites. Over the years, I have acquired a STACK of other C-Programming Books--and I am afraid to buy any more of them--because I am tired of EXPERIMENTING to see which ones are PRACTICAL to READ, and I'm tired of reading GOBS of POINTLESS-and/or-BLOATED text--I am very happy with this book. I am a self-taught (Linux) C Programmer, and the C-and-PERL-programs from this book run well on Linux(kernels 2.2 thru 2.4)... This book is a great start in getting you up and running--but the rest is up to you--since you'll REALLY NEED to UNDERSTAND MODERN WEB SERVERS !!!...and... ONE LAST NOTE-- this code may be considered "old" (written in 1996?) --it's NOT obsolete--but it still runs perfectly-and-flawlessly "as is" --on a modern-day Apache Web Server(Linux). This code has stood it's test of time.After you use these programs--it may become more obvious as to the "updates-additions-or-deletions" you'll want to make.Be sure to get Boutell's UPDATED CODE (from his web-site).

The Truth
With many years of experience under my belt, i found this book to be easy.I'd written many complex cgi scripts using perl and c previous to this book, for many fortune 500 companies.They are much more complex than the ones "Dennis Chang" clamis to have written.The conepts in the book are sound but a little outdated.One major complaint is that there aren't enough code examples to look at while you are reading along.The bottom line, its a easy book to read that teaches sound principles for programming cgi in c, but remember you pay for what you get.So i recommend getting a more advanced book for when you master this one. ... Read more

Product Description
B> The Web Wizard's Guide to Perl and CGI teaches readers how to create Web sites that will have an audience coming back for more. From writing scripts to analyzing users' data, this book helps readers create well-designed, user-friendly Web sites.This book covers the following topics: elementary scripts, programming and Perl basics, the Perl/Web interface, advanced Perl statements, how to store data in arrays, how to use Perl to work with Patterns, and how to use multiple page forms that share data.It assumes no programming experience, and also acts as a handy reference.The Web Wizard Series from Addison-Wesley is a series of brief, introductory books written by instructors on Internet and Web programming topics of interest to anyone who wants to create web pages. Each book includes an easy-to-read, full-color design featuring plenty of hands-on examples and exercises, and is written in a concise and practical manner so readers can use the technologies in no time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great Introduction to PERL Programming
This book is thorough in its knowledge, easy to read, with good references, and very well outlined and organized.It takes the reader and aspiring PERL / CGI Programmer from scratch to the point where he or she will be fully capable of writing their own fully functional and interactive PERl-CGI based web site in a UNIX/LINUX/Windows platform in a matter of a couple of weeks.I covers all of the necessary topics such as parameters, functions, variables, lists and arrays, sub routines, forms, writing and reading to files, and much more.It also provides a solid foundation to jump into the more advanced topics in PERL and CGI programming.I am very pleased with this introduction to PERL and highly recomend this book to anyone who already knows html and other programming languages and would like to add PERL to their tools list.This is an academic treatment of PERL although not a scientific one.

But its out of print
Amazon may have copies, but the publisher tells our bookstore its now out of print. I liked the book, and decided to adopt it for our Perl/CGI course because the book we had been using went out of print (CGI/Perl by Diane Zak). The campus bookstore informed me that the book was out of print. oh well.

Great Introduction To Using Perl And CGI
I really liked this Introductory Perl book. It covers a lot of
ground without assuming that the reader is a genius. This full
color book has many features I liked such as call outs (kind of
like arrow diagrams) on code sections, short code pieces
with a line-by-line descriptions and things like tip and warning boxes. It covers things from starting your first CGI script to trickier things like regular expressions and using files on the web Server. An excellent starting book for people wanting to
learn Perl or Perl scripting.

Just right for a beginner...
If you have absolutely no experience with perl and cgi, you'll probably appreciate this book. Assumes no prior knowledge and presents information in manageable, non-intimidating fashion. ... Read more

Product Description
Teach Yourself CGI Programming with Perl 5 in a Week is for the experienced Web page developer who is familiar with basic HTML. The tutorial explains how to use CGI to add interaction to Web sites. The CD includes the source code for all the examples used in the book, along with tools for creating and editing CGI scripts, image maps, forms, and HTML. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

Poor CD information...
Book is GOOD but the included CD is difficult to navigate.

To tell you frankly upto now I cannot find where are the sample scripts mentioned in the book.

Novice or pro, you can use this book.
Not the best desktop reference book and not the best straight up learning manual, this book combines strong elements of each.

Once you are comfortable working with CGI and Perl (which this book will either teachyour or assist greatly in achieving) you will still find yourself crackingthe cover often for those things that are right on the tip of your brainbut you just can't quite remember.

With the help of this book, I masteredCGI and was well on the way to my mastery of Perl.It shouldn't be theonly CGI or Perl book in your library, but it is a powerful addition.

Read other reviews carefully.
I brought this book almost 3 years ago and I do not regret it. I wasn't new to CGI, but I think the book is good for both novices and professionals alike.

Many responses criticised this book - read these carefully. Manybooks contain history. Ok so there is a CGI script missing ? Show me a bookthat doesn't. I couldn't believe the webmaster who thinks there is nothingto show how to write a CGI script. Did he read the book ???

Seriously -does anybody considering buying this book think that it's not going to tellyou how to write a CGI script ???

A reader remarks that he has lot's ofexperience of Web Design but this book is not for beginners. But the reviewfrom the beginner says this book is great.

An INCREDIBLE learning resource for beginners!!
The amount of snotty, degrading comments on this book can only lead me to believe that the authors were not able to grasp the simplest of instructions and are taking their anger out on this book.

Quite simply,this is an INCREDIBLE book; well-written, funny, and comprehensive. Notonly do you learn about CGI, you also learn Perl, SSI, some nice HTMLtricks and lots of information about web servers.

The CD includes fullwebsites, tons of scripts, and lots of basic programs you'll need if youplan to set up your own server.

GET THIS BOOK! You won't regret it.*Unless you're too dense to read simple english...*

Poorly designed, rushed, and very bad continuity
I felt this book was good only up to it's halfway point, where it strays from actually teaching you PERL techniques, to other things which have little to no relevance. Not saying that the first half was any good, either- the program sources themselves were riddled with continuity errors.Variable names changed from one reference to another in the same program.The author also took very little time to make sure the reader understoodwhat was going on; too often he would cite code 'snippets' that did exactlywhat they were supposed to do, but then didn't tell you how to fit themtogether to actually make them WORK. I suggest O'Reilley's Animal SeriesCGI book (easily idenifiable in the bookstores with their animals on thecover and black-and-cyan colors) as an alternative to this one. ... Read more

Product Description
(Pearson Education) A guide to writing CGI applications with Perl, showing how to accomplish everyday tasks necessary for online operations. Includes line-by-line code explanations, examples, and skill-stretching exercises. Also covers working with HTML, tracking clicks, and cookies, among other topics. Softcover. DLC: Perl (Computer program language). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Not easy to follow
This was a little conplex and not easy to follow, as some reviews said.
I'd look at another.

A rare gem
This is a fantastic book!It is best for people who already know Perl and have written basic CGI scripts and now wish to write full-blown applications.

The attraction of this book is simple:there are countless sources that teach you how to write a CGI "page" -- a single script that has a couple states.But it turns out that writing CGI-based "applications" are much harder.

This is one of the rare books that discusses the architecting of CGI-based *applications* including the full source of a very interesting content management application.As such, this book is virtually unique among the dozens of others books.It is not perfect and I keep hoping that the authors will come out with an updated edition.But for all that, it remains unparalleled.

Not a good introduction to CGI
I bought this book because the Amazon reviewers loved it so much. I got about 150 pages into it and now I need to buy a different book. This book is good for people who really really like to learn by rote. The authors cover interesting and important topics, but they don't explain them well. They don't even try to outline the purpose of a script before coding it. They also introduce functions that are new to the reader somewhere in the middle of a script. They never write, "This is function x. It can be used like this... Here is an example...."

They just start coding without any introduction except for some stupid jokes.

That said, if you already know a buttload of Perl and DBI and CGI programming, you might like this book for the examples.

Also, there were way too many errors in the text and the code, and that makes it even harder to learn.

Not all I expected
I read the raving previous reviews and thought this would be the CGI book for me.It wasn't.I know a bit of perl, but relatively little about cgi (I know a bit, but not much).Here are my comments:

Good things:
- I thought most of the example programs in the text were good and illustrated the points being made.
- I liked the discussion on taint

Bad points:
- I thought the examples were somewhat random and did not give me tools to attack general problems.
- I would have liked a better description of cgi.pm (perhaps I should get Lincoln Stein's book)
- I did not like the line by line format of the code.I found this very distracting and redundant.I would have preferred seeing the code and then having the authors describe the main points of the code (instead of all the trivial comments inbetween all the lines).
- I did not like the dependence on databases.Perhaps this is something most serious cgi programmers use, but storing my data in text files is sufficient for most of the applications I might use.I would have preferred a separate chapter on database and cgi (or I could just buy a separate book on this).

I'm not sure why everyone else raved about the book so much, but I didn't find it so wonderful.

Very helpful
This is an extremely useful book for writing web-based applications with Perl.Lots of helpful descriptions and examples.Useful for beginners to familiarize themselves with a wide range of necessary terms and topics.For example, I found the chapters on mod_perl and dbi very helpful.Also useful for more experienced CGI programmers because of the useful examples and techniques presented. ... 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
Shows how to program the cgi-bin with C++ and C for more powerful connectivity to the Internet.This book provides methods to link the power of compiled languages into Internet interfaces. CGI programs are the only way to obtain advanced server side capabilities and by using C++ and C, real computer control from the Internet can be achieved. Shows how to link existing C++ and C code to HTML Gui Internet capabilities.For C++ and C programmers working with CGI Internet programming. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Need a tip that the book doesn't help with.
If you've bought the book and using winnt/2000(VStudio), it may help to know that standard cin will timeout. Try this concept.
#include
#include
void main()
{
char buff[1000];
int con_len = atoi(getenv("CONTENT_LENGTH"));
cout<<"Content-type: text/html\n\n";
(con_len)?cin.get(buff,con_len),cout< }
The author of this book should have researched more using Windows. Ok book if you're using server soft designed for UNIX ie:Apache, but only really deserves 2-3 stars.
It could have been written better.

Until the better one come out, this is one of the best
I am one of C++ programmers who had been writting C++ codes for years. Recently, I have to write web programming (called CGI programs), and I don't want to learn a new language like Perl or Tcl... So, I wonderedaround everywhere finding any book that could give me any idea about how towrite CGI programs in C/C++, and luckily, I found this book.

While notperfect (from my experience with over 20 C++ books, none is perfect), thisbook does what it should. Although a lot of codes won't compile withoutsome modification (compiler depends... I compiled them using g++ on IRIXplatform, check yours). Anyway, I found it challenging to find bugs in hiscode, since that helped my understanding of several things (but withoutbugs is better anyway :-).

Apart from that problems, there are also otherdrawback points. The most important one is, the author's e-mail address! I was trying to send some mails to ask him some question. However, it seemsthat the address is wrong.. (although I checked that in the book'shomepage!). Well, if anyone know his correct e-mail address, would youplease send me that information?

However, I do agree with some reviewersabout the price of this book. It should be much cheaper, when considerabout the size of the book, and (it is paperback cover..). Anyway, sincebooks for CGI programming in C/C++ are rare, it might be considerablefine....

And why I still gave this book 5 stars?Well, as I said, frommy opinion this is one of the best for CGI programming "without"Perl & Tcl book. At least until the better one come out.

Covers the fundamentals of CGI with C/C++ well...
...but, for one thing, for the price, this book should come with a CD with all the code...it's a huge pain to type all that is given.Also, the C++ classes (of most concern to me) seem to be overly complex, theres a whole load of member functions to replace the amersands in a query string withnewlines, and a bunch of other stuff, where a couple of strtok(); functionswould have done the job.

The main strength of this book is that itteaches you the mechanics of how a compiled C/C++ program for CGI works. The string parsing doesn't take much ingenuity either, you just have toknow the format.

It's very good, considering the situation
Actually, this book is a 4 as it could be better written. However! Having considered the fact that there really isn't another book on CGI with C, I give it a 5, just to stress that there is more than one way in which a bookmay be valuable.

The book is helpful if you want to learn how C/C++ fitsinto writing CGI ends to http requests. It is significantly better than tohack through HOWTO or MAN-style papers, believe me. A word about some ofthe criticisms below. There are some errors--that is true. However, allC++-related criticism is hogwash. This book is not about C++, but about CGIproggies, that tend to be rather simple. Also, the idea that writingtemplate- and rtti-less C++ code is somehow 'outdated' or 'inferior' ispretty silly and can only come from someone who isn't very sure about C++himself. Again, the stress is on CGI, if you want a book about large-scaleC++ design and development, look elswhere. CGI thingies aren't distributedportfolio management systems. One, in my opinion, real weakness of thisbook is its price. I'd say, 24.95 would be about right. I woudln't besurprised if it were from Wiley, but from PH it's a bit on the wild side.

Not what I would call a good book!
I can't believe I wasted $50.00 on this book.

I don't know if the author assumes that if your reading a tutorial on CGI that you have a good deal of knowledge on CGI and it's layout already, or if he just can'twrite.There was not nearly enough background as far as which files gowhere, and how they interact, and how to set it up.He just goes writeinto programming it.

I am a senior computer science major and all that istaught is C++ yet, his sample c++ code sucked, and left me confused.Itwas not at all well explained, and used a style which I was just notfamilar with.

I do not know CGI any more than I did before, it is justan awfully written book. ... Read more

Product Description
Perl is one of the most popular scripting languages for adding powerful interactive features to Web pages. Perl lets you place forms on your site that collect and process user input such as comments and product orders; enables visitors to search for information; and can integrate a database into your site, among its many other capabilities. Perl and CGI for the World Wide Web, 2nd Edition: Visual QuickStart Guide fully revised and updated since its original 1998 release, gets users to the core of CGI scripting with Perl. Even first-time programmers will be able to create useful, workable scripts from scratch, or adapt and customize existing scripts to their own needs. Hundreds of screen shots and clear, easy-to-understand directions make this the perfect Perl book for beginners, as well as a handy reference for those with previous programming experience. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

Long on examples, short on detail
This is a jumpstart tutorial book, so anyone looking for a comprehensive guide to either Perl or CGI will be disappointed.(But the title of the book series makes this pretty obvious.)I'm an experienced programmer, and I've had some experience with Python, a language very similar to Perl in some ways, but nevertheless I found this book helpful, even if it is somewhat simplistic.It provides a good, if shallow, introduction to the possibilities of the Perl language and CGI.This book is enough to get your feet wet;it is not enough to make you a competent web application developer.But once you finish this book, you can move on to something more substantial.What I like about this book is the way the author continues to repeat certain basic concepts, so that a beginner won't get tangled up and lost.(Things like the "here" document and "default" variable, for example, can throw the beginner for a loop.)So overall, I think this book is a pretty good starting point for Perl and CGI.

Absolute beginner programmers may still find this book too complex.There is a certain assumption of familiarity with basic programming concepts.But if you have even a small amount of experience with even a simple language like BASIC, you should be fine.

I love this book
I ALWAYS buy the Peachpit Press books for everything I need to learn.I bought one for Photoshop, HTML,Studio 10, Flash, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, VB, etc.They are straight forward and to-the-point and great books.

I checked it out from a library and liked it so much I bought it!
I'm a PERL beginner.I checked out several books from the library and this one, PERL and CGI, was the best fit.It gives a very good overview of what PERL is and its syntax.After just a couple of hours of reading I think I could start writing my own simple scripts.Easy to read and understand.I liked it so much I bought a copy from Amazon to keep as a reference!Not as an exhaustive reference --it's not that --but as a reference for all the common techniques and principles.Although there are a lot of illustrations, they're not really critical to the book.My only criticism is that the print in the pictures is so small it's hard to read.

Great Introduction to Perl
This was one of the first books I read to learn Perl and it provides an excellent introduction to Perl. At the beginning I think it could use a little bit more hand holding as some other books do, but if you are familiar with any syntax in a programming language you should be just fine. Even if you are one of those that did need to get another book to get you through the hand holding of learning to program for the first time with Perl, you will quickly find yourself wondering how to do things with Perl and this book will probably answer your questions so I think this book is indispensable for anyone that wants to learn Perl.

Really hard to follow
First off, she didn't even get started with user exercises until Chapter 7. (I can already use a web server, thank you-- she doesn't need six chapters to explain the subject) And it would be nice if she included the HTML form examples along with the corresponding perl/CGI scripts that processed the data generated. As it stands, she has a chapter which tells you how to create a form, and then two chapters later, when she gets to the perl/CGI examples, they don't correspond to anything that's been covered in earlier chapters pertaining to form data. I had a much easier time following a quickie online tutorial.

I cannot advise strenuously enough against purchasing this book. ... Read more

Product Description
A complete guide to creating interactive Web pages using the Perl CGI.pm library from its creator.

Official Guide to Programming with CGI.pm contains all the information about CGI.pm found in Perl's online manual, but in a completely reorganized and greatly expanded format. It also includes valuable labor-saving tips and hints you won't find anywhere else. Featuring step-by-step instructions and complete source code, it shows you how to:
* Download, install, and configure CGI.pm
* Generate HTML documents on the fly
* Process fill-out forms and create multipage documents
* Perform script debugging and state maintenance
* Design interactive clickable image maps
* Store and process cookies
* Attach JavaScript and cascading style sheets to your documents
* Write state-maintaining scripts
* Modify and extend CGI.pm
* Tap the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN).
On the Web site you'll find:
* The most recent and all future revisions to the CGI.pm module
* All the source code examples from the book
* Online documentation for CGI.pm
* Links to CPAN and other Web-related software written by the author.Amazon.com Review
CGI.pm, a Perl library for writing CGI scripts, delivers elegant solutions for using and updating Web forms. The author, Lincoln Stein, realized the need for a clean and simple way to manage forms and--as a columnist for the Perl Journal, a scientist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and a Web-based software author--created that solution. He's (refreshingly) humble about this creative process, explaining that it took him a few steps until he realized the key to this HTML/Perl hybrid: simplicity.

The CGI.pm standard allows the site manager to separate data from its HTML markup for use in CGI forms. For example, all the elements in a short drop-down menu of vegetables can be placed in one array, changing this:

The use of CGI.pm requires a mind shift for Web site managers, but it's one worth making. Instead of tags for 'input' and 'select', CGI.pm uses statements such as "checkbox ()" and "textfield ()," allowing documents to be read easily and updated quickly.--Jennifer Buckendorff ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Dated look at the CGI.pm module
If you want to pick up and start using CGI.pm this book will certainly help you out. It does a decent job explaining what the module is and what it can do. The problem is, the CGI.pm module is not that hard to understand. The book is also kind of thin in that there are only really 2-3 architectural examples of using server side CGI for page state and transition management.

So whats there in the book is ok, but hardly worth the full price. This should be a more budget priced book simply because it just covers the very basics of CGI coding. Any skilled programmer who understands the basics of CGI won't get that much out of this book.

That being said, it beats reading through the CGI.pm online documentation. It just should not cost as much as it does.

Another problem is that the perl and html in the examples is out of date and I was not a fan of the style of coding in general. A few too many times, convoluted (but efficient) coding was used. While this is fine for your own code, when you are writing code for training and demonstration the code should be a bit more clear.

So, the book does work as a quick overview of the CGI.pm module and its written by the modules author so there is that :)

It should have been a lot more detailed with better examples, to justify its price, or a but shorter at a bargain price. The bottom line is, there is not much you are going to get out of this book that you would not gleen from reading the online CGI.pl doc and a few decent examples.

Straight From The Creator of CGI.pm
This is one of my favorite computer books of all time. I enjoyed it as a way to learn to use the CGI perl module, several years ago, and I use it from time to time now as a reference. The author presented his material with a fair amount of humor, especially in the examples, and with great clarity. Of all the perl modules out there, I probably use CGI.pm more than any other, with DBI.pm coming in a close second. So, if you're planning on using perl to generate web pages, this book will be very useful. While learning to use the CGI.pm I also read two other books and this book by Lincoln Stein was the most useful and informative of the ones I read.

Disappointing
I gave up on this book after 185 pages. Admittedly, I learned a lot about using Lincoln Stein's CGI module using this book, but it was not always easy. On the upside most of his explanations are clear. However the examples are replete with errors and the typography used for the code listings make it easy to introduce new errors.

Wow, incredible high-level power in this module.
The author has done a wonderful job of explaining how to use the CGIpm module. If you understand the basics of perl, you should be able to go through the bulk of this book. And with just a slight acquaintance with Perl references and anonmous list, you'll be surprised how quick and easy this is to master. This book puts other CGI books to shame because other books shy away from discussing all the cool functions in CGI.pm.

Great Book!
This book helped me make the transition to object oriented perl. Oh yeah, and it's filled with all the CGI you'll need. Thank you Lincoln Stein!! ... Read more

Product Description
The best value on the market for Web developers who want a complete reference to the principal tools for building interactive Web sites! You get 1000 pages of coverage on these key non-Microsoft technologies, for only $24.99. Perl is the language of choice for creating CGI scripts to add interactivity to Web sites. JavaScript, Netscape's popular scripting language for building interactive Web applications, is often used in combination with Perl. Whether you are a novice or experienced Web developer, this book offers the framework you need to get up to speed with the latest versions of Perl, CGI, and JavaScript. It also includes quick references to Perl commands and modules, plus a JavaScript object reference. This book introduces you to the work of some of Sybex's finest authors, so you'll know where to turn to learn even more about each of these topics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Difficult to follow
I bought this book mainly for Perl and CGI. I found it quite difficult to follow, and had to re-read chapters repeatedly to get the main points. Even then it was hard. I think I would prefer more "hand-holding". I always felt I was being overwhelmed.

Book for Advanced Reference
This is a very dry reading. It holds a lot of information but not fit for the learning point of view, it is set up more to be a reference for the already advanced jscript/perl/cgi programmer. The layout is not created up well enough to display samples, and only makes you more confused as you get further into the book. I found myself reading pages over 2 or 3 times before one page would make sense with the next.

What a waste of time
I just bought this book and read into it, and many of their examples are incorrect and they do not teach you very well. If you want a decent book on programming, try one from PeachPit Press.

Don't Bother...
I like Sybex's idea of giving the reader 1,000 pages of info for under [price]. But this book is not well executed: there are innumerable mistakes littering this book, but the website lists only one entry in the "errata." And these are mistakes that can frustrate a newbie (e.g., the book says that UNIX PATH varibale has a ';' delimiter when actually it is a ':', etc.) Also, the reference section for Perl modules leaves out any mention of CGI.pm -- a very important module. Both sections leave the reader wondering just what level of expertise the authors have.

I would not recommend this book.

Typical Sybex approach to making difficult topics easy
Despite some basic concept familiarization, I was horribly intimidated byJavaScript and Perl.This book does a great job of introducing and handwalking you through difficult concepts and ideas - building a little at atime -Great desk reference... Recommended to some friends and bought as agift for others! ... Read more

Product Description

Sams Teach Yourself CGI in 24 Hours teaches the reader the next step beyond simple HTML Web pages. This new edition covers implementing CGI with both C and Perl, and it discusses CGI's relative strengths and weaknesses in comparison with other Web programming technologies like JavaScript, Java, and PHP.It also covers recent developments in templating systems and mod_perl server add-ons.

The book takes the reader from the basics of CGI—learning, for example, how to implement and customize existing CGI programs that have been written by others—to the point where he can use CGI to create his own programs from scratch.

The book also provides numerous real-life examples of CGI scripts—database search tools, survey forms, interactive games, order forms, guest books, and more.

Customer Reviews (7)

Good for Beginners
This book encompassed most of what CGI is all about and did so straight forward enough to where a beginner could learn from it. It covers the basics of programming in a sense with all of its topics and how it's structured. It wouldn't be feasible to go straight from using the book to application programming, but like I said, it's good for beginners to start getting a feel for what the server side world is capable of and how things work.

An excellent beginners book!
I have been learning CGI/PERL/PHP for the past 6 months now. I am currently in an internship and my job is to update the webpage. This book was great! This book helped me a lot. I am definitely still a begginner at CGI and this book taught me a lot of basics. You won't learn how to create professional looking guestbooks or message boards but you will learn the basics of how to create them. This book covers just about everything you need to know to get started.

I am impressed
The content of the book impressed me.Prior to reading the book, I had taught myself Perl programming, and had learned the basics of forms processing.I didn't understand some of CGI jargon I came across in more than one Perl book that glossed over CGI in a single chapter somewhere toward the back of the book.But this book on CGI programming gave me all the information I needed to feel like a CGI pro, someone who could keep his cool in any discussion where "CGI" was spoken.

Some of the information in this book is worth writing down, so you can remember the clear understanding that reading the book gave you, and so you can regurgitate that understanding to other people later, say after months of no complex CGI programming.This book offers enough explanation to make you see things from a webmaster's perspective, but also a UNIX programmer's perspective.Without more than a basic idea of how the UNIX command-line works.

I will confess that if you don't know Perl, I don't think you'd have the same reaction I did.But CGI books shouldn't have to teach you Perl, and at the same time, Perl is THE language for CGI programming.The "brief" coverage that this book gives to other CGI languages is not meant to underplay their relative importance, but rather to give Perl the attention that it's due.Also, realize that PHP is not a CGI language, and I wouldn't classify JSP as one, either, so you definitely won't find mention of them in Rafe's book as anything other than alternatives to CGI.

So learn some Perl, say from the new "Beginning Perl" book from OReilly, and then get Rafe's book, to learn CGI."Teach Yourself CGI in 24 Hours" is worth buying and studying.

Great Start for a Perl Beginning
Dear Mr. Rafe Colburn:
Buddy! Just thought I had better write you to THANK you for your book, 'Sams Teach Yourself CGI in 24 Hours". I bought the book last Christmas, and though progress is slow, things are sinking in GOOD!
I just wrapped my head around Hour 15, Session (State) Management, and cookies. Your book is extremely well laid out, easy to understand, and there hasn't been an exercise in your book that I haven't been able to complete yet! The exercises are challenging and fun yet possible with your book. Once again, THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I have found it to be an OUTSTANDING resource for myself, a beginner in the PERL programming language.

Excellent book for quick start
This is a well written book to obtain a quick understanding of CGI. ... Read more

Product Description
This book gives Internet programmers useful, professionally-written scripts to use on their Web pages and for customizing individual needs. It includes scripts for e-mail and searching HTML directories, a "Fortune Cookie" generator, a message board system, and a CGI-based database, as well as an HTML Guestbook and electronic classified ads page. The CD-ROM contains two well known libraries for Perl 4 and 5, cgi-lib.pl and cgi.pm, and custom libraries created by the authors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Great Coverage Most Necessary Scripts
Great Book.Real World Scripts.Not an intro to Perl.Good coverage of some powerful scripts.

Best for use on Unix.Some work needed for use on NT.CD good, but check Selena's web site for the latest updates.

Great for intermediate & above users
I think this book is more informational than practical.Although I've been able to successfully customize some of the CGI scripts, I've had a bear of a time relating to the procedures and found no help what so ever in the error or troubleshooting department.All in all the scripts in this book are extremely powerfull, just make sure you make time for deciphering!

Not for NT servers
If you're running traditional UNIX web servers, you may find value in this book as it addresses many of the more common needs for CGI programming; however, if you're running on an NT web server, beware.Although the authors make an attempt to address the NT issues, I've been 100% unsuccessful in making their programming run.Other uses for $40. include: dinner, Christmas presents, a good movie, 2 pizzas, 8 trips to McDonalds, 1/2-pair of shoes, 2 tanning sessions, a copy of Harper Lee's book and a cup of coffee . . .

Could not put it down!
This is definitely the favorite in my library!I literally went through the entire book one evening after successfully installing several of the scripts and learned more about Perl than from any other resource or class...

A great intermediate-level PERL resource.
More a library of pre-designed CGI-based systems than a reference book, "Instant Web Scripts With CGI" is a great way for the system admin or webmaster to add relatively advanced components to a web site with relatively little effort.

This book, however, is not for the PERL novice; although most included systems seem to work well with little or no modification save those to configuration files, the book offers little help with making significant functional changes to its scripts, and does little to explain the mechanics of the PERL involved in making everything work.

A very useful book overall, as long as you know what you're doing. ... Read more

Product Description
"One person, two computers, six months … twenty-two minutes"

Part "art-of," part "how-to," CGI Filmmaking: The Creation of Ghost Warrior explores how one artist created a feature-quality, 22-minute animated film in six months of production. The recent advancements in powerful, yet reasonably priced programs for 3D animation and compositing make such an undertaking possible. This book blazes a trail for others to follow in crafting a complete animated film. From concept, design, scripting, and storyboarding to modeling, lighting, animating, editing, and distribution, every step is outlined, every solution is documented. Pre-visualization, voice casting and recording, music composition and performance, and post-processing are discussed as well, enabling even a lone filmmaker to bring his or her dream to life.

This book:
* Includes the complete script and final shot list for Kaze, Ghost Warrior, along with production and location stills
* Offers detailed discussion of the entire process of creating an animated film, from creating the concept to presenting the finished film to an audience
* Explores the latest technology for modeling, animating, compositing, editing, and sound design
* Provides a complete map for crafting an animated film ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Excellent book
Well-written and an excellent guide, Ablee goes into detail of every stage of making a CGI film. Essential for anyone who is even considering making a film, especially if your primary program will be Lightwave.

Nicely Carved Book
The book is really great. Cannot stop reading the book. The book is very inspiring. hats off to Timothy Albee. A must read for people who enter in to the field of animation.

CGI Filmmaking: The Creation of Ghost Warrior
Excellent book. It is very well written and has a lot of very useful information. Although at times Mr. Albee gets a little heavy handed with his philosophies or life and art, in general his advice is most welcome.

I especially recommend this book to people who are just starting in the business, or are looking for a break in.

Laying the groundwork for your own 3d short
Did you ever admire someone's abilities who shares an interest with you? Wouldn't you love to speak to him/her and ask them questions how they got to that point in there career to help guide you? Say a chef, and artist, maybe someone who succeeded in business?
Well, being somewhat deeply involved in 3D as a hobby/freelance, I, along with many of us, know of Tim Albee. He has a deep background in 3D and has worked at some fine studios. But, more importantly for me, he's dived into making his own shorts. This is of special interest to me, since i don't expect to be working at pixar anytime soon. That being said, there are certain issues that arise for the artist looking to make his own short. Tim walks you through his journey. From start to completion. How he work up a script, how to design characters, ways to cut corners. He even goes into improvised ways of doing your own audio! Then he wraps up with different ways to market your film with actual websites and film festivals all while giving you "insider" tips.
In short, if your have dreams of making "your own" animated short, with a limited budget, this is the book for you.

Unimpressed.
This book, to the uninformed, might seem like something special however, it seemed more like self promotion on a product that is over hyped and severely lacking in quality content... the DVD of Kaze.

If you are lacking self confidence and have very little knowledge of how to work with 3d and create a short, you may want to invest in this book. Mr. Albee is constantly touting how amazing and special he you are. This seems to me like a thinly veiled attempt at fooling the reader into liking the book. While it is a good marketing technique it is not what the someone needs if they truely want to succeed in the film industry.

It does seem that Mr. Albee definitely has a bit of technical experience and must be commended for finishing his DVD and writing a book about it. The animation of the DVD is riddled withproblems though. Intersections, sudden stops, no overlap, arms moving rapidly with no impact on the body, broken wrists, obviouly constrained controls and much more. The camera moves and staging are alright for a student film but, full of novice mistakes that cg artists commonly make.

After reading the book and seeing the DVD, I would suggest your time is better spent with books on animation such as "The Animator's Survival Kit" and "The illusion of Life". Books on filmaking and production such as "Story", "In the blink of a Eye" and "Film Directing Shot by Shot". These are quality books that will help you grow. They will not pat you on the back and tell you are great when you may not be. The production process is very hard and it's very difficult to become good enough to produce the quality that the big studios require. This book doesn't really put you in the right direction. ... Read more

Product Description
This large format, comprehensive, high quality and visually rich art book covers the history of animation throughout the world, focusing heavily on the North American creative engines of Disney, Warner and now the new, small production CGI houses.The book is divided into world regions to reveal the clear developments in each area, but heavy cross referencing will show the increasing internationalization of animation from the 1930's when the industry and creative imagination of Walt Disney began to infect artists and producers the world over, revealed most recently in The Matrix phenomenon where the bridge between the first and subsequent films, (Animatrix, nine animated shorts), was provided by a pioneering collaboration between US and Japanese animation studios.

Beginning with the earliest in animation, we follow the few individuals who worked on their own to develop techniques that would soon transform animation into a mass-market phenomenon. In recent years, animation has been hugely impacted by the arrival of the computer, seen in films such as Toy Story and Shrek. Computers have pushed animation to the limit by achieving fine, detailed, real-world rendering techniques that challenge the next generation of animators. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

great history
I've been a 3d animator and 2d illustrator for 15 years, and now I am going to teach an Animation Analysis class. This book was recommended to me as the history textbook for my class. My son, who is a general history nut, was totally enthralled with it. It is incredibly thorough, objective and well-written

Unbeatable overview of animation art
I loved this book, read it four times. It covered all types of animation
including stop motion. It was organized by decade, by country. There were
many contributors who chose what they were most interested in and I guess
their passion rubs off because it is hard to put down and very informative.
If you want a course in animation history, just read this and save your
tuition money. I don't know how Jerry Beck does it all but we all
benefit from his dedication. Thank you, Jerry. Keep up the good work.

An Excellent Overview of the Popular Medium
Animation Art is a comprehensive look at the history, development and cultural effects of animation and cartoons.

From the early days up to the latest blockbusters of the 21st century, the authors have covered all concepts, genres and media. Including European, Asian and Canadian cartoons, stop motion, CGI and more.

Beautifully presented with many colour pictures and written by experienced contributors it leaves no stone unturned.

The only disappointment is the amount of text devoted to one of my all time favourites, Tom & Jerry.

Otherwise a comprehensive tome that will provide for anybody interested in animation.

A "feast" for the mind as well as for the eye....
This is a magnificent achievement. Serving as General Editor, Jerry Beck has brought together in a single volume a riveting narrative which examines the history of cartoon, anime, and CGI with stunning full-color illustrations of that history. As he explains in his Introduction, "We have assembled an international team of animation authorities to tell the tales behind the toons. -The story is told in chronological sequence with choice images that enhance its history...From popular Disney characters to obscure personal films, it is all covered: Hollywood hits and Japanese anime, as well as Russian masterpieces and Asian artfilms. Looking it over, it is quite a wild ride." Indeed it is. The material is skillfully organized within twelve chapters which range from "The Origin of the Art" to "The New Century." By no means do I claim to be an expert on the subject of animation art but I presume to observe that I cannot imagine what has been left out. The illustrations are stunning; the prose narrative is crisp and lucid.

In the Foreword, Jeffrey Katzenberg observes that animation art provides a unique opportunity "to remember to know who has gone before, to really know the stories, take lessons from them, and bring that knowledge to the future. My hope is that, one day, other people will feel the same way about about those of us who are making animated films now. While it is an amazing thing to have the opportunity to create films and to bring these enormous enterprises to the world, it is something entirely different and entirely more rare to have our work remembered and considered part of the continuing evolution of an art form." Thanks to Beck, those who work their way through this magnificent volume will not only remember what has been achieved in animation art thus far; they will also understand what can yet be accomplished as others who have yet to reveal themselves through their art.

I highly recommend this volume to anyone interested in animation art, of course, but also to those who have an interest in the creation and evolution of comic books. Also to those who share my high regard for illustrators such as Al Hirschfeld whose art is celebrated in Hirschfeld on Line, now available from Amazon in both book and DVD formats.

book review
Informative and entertaining,another good effort by Mr. Beck.I recommend this for any fan of animation. ... Read more

Product Description
The World Wide Web is more than a place to put up clever documents andpretty pictures.Using the Common Gateway Interface (CGI), you can offer interactive queries and serve instant information from databases, worked up into colorful graphics.This book offers a comprehensive explanation of CGI and related techniques for people who hold on to the dream of providing their own information servers on the Web.The author starts at the beginning, explaining the value of CGI and how it works, then moves swiftly into the subtle details of programming.The majority of examples use the most commonplatform (UNIX) and the most popular language (Perl) used for CGIprogramming today.However, the book also introduces the essentials ofmaking CGI work with other platforms and languages.Amazon.com Review
O'Reilly has done it again! This is my favorite book yet onwriting CGI scripts with Perl (5.0). The extensive use of real worldapplications you can try while learning, and the great examples of howto have CGI interact with databases are especially useful. I suspect Ishall order several copies for some of our staff who are new toCGI. Although the book has a UNIX bias, it has much to offer scripterson all platforms.

Note that many competitors cram a CD-ROM into their books to givegreater "shelf appeal".Don't be fooled. O'Reilly continuesits economically and ecologically sensible approach of pointing you totheir FTP site to obtain the example code used in the book. (Thanks,Tim!) Highly Recommended. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

Lots of fluff
Not easy to understand. Sometimes it is difficult to follow what the author means. There is too much detail, which I feel was getting in the way of understanding CGI.
I was initlally exicited , but after reading the first few chapters, i think i will have to look elsewhere.

CGI Programming on the World Wide Web
CGI Programming on the World Wide We

Good Introduction to CGI
If you have a basic understanding of Perl and HTML, this book helps youlearn CGI.The book also introduced me to postscript and gd, which havebeen quite valuable for a lot of applicatioins.I enjoyedShishir'smodest, down-to-earth writing style.Since many people havecriticizedthis book, let me refute the most common criticisms:"Thesource code should be on a CD-ROM".No.Programming is in the fingers. You learn by typing.Anyway, you canFTP it if your lazy."The levelof detail is poor".That's what man pages and FAQ's are for.Shishiris giving more of a guided tour of CGI, with just enough detail to getstarted in each area."The source code has mistakes/is missingsemicolons."I didn't find this problem.But anyway, you should knowenough Perl to put the semicolons where they belong.If you don't knowPerl, this bookis not for you.Everything in this book is available on theweb, but the book will savethe beginner a ton of time digging around.Also,Shishir does not encourage use of CGI.pm, which is both good and bad.Ithink it's good because it teaches better understanding of the low-levelCGI mechanics.On the flipside, use of CGI.pm can protectyou from a lot ofobvious mistakes.I haven't found a better introduction to CGI.

Excellent book!I'd recommend it to anyone!
This is an excellent book.I'd recommend it to anyone who is getting started in CGI programming.It will not teach you Perl; for that I used O'Reilly's "Programming perl" while I read through this book'sexamples.For CGI programming, however, this book does its job very well.Inoticed another review that said that code in this book didn't work.I'veactually used code from this book in a half-dozen sites now, and it workedfine.More importantly, the code was well-enough explained that I'vemodified it over and over again to do what I needed.I still pull this bookout every so often, and a few of my friends come by my house and read it. It's a very useful tool for anyone who wants to get started with CGIprogramming.

good
i want to review it agai ... Read more

Product Description
Requiring no prior knowledge of programming or web site design, this easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide helps professionals as well as students create interactive behavioral research instruments online. With this volume, anyone can learn to write programs in HTML and CGI/Perl that will enable them to take full advantage of all the benefits of Internet-based data collection: the ability to effortlessly manipulate visual and narrative content, randomize the presentation order of stimuli, and provide customized assessments and feedback for research participants. Including extensive examples throughout, the book explains everything from how to obtain access to a web server to mastering HTML coding, processing data with CGI/Perl, and importing data files into popular statistical packages. While the examples are from psychology, the technical skills the book provides can be adapted to other fields that make use of behavioral research.
... Read more

Product Description
Increase Traffic by Creating New Services With Perl/CGI - In as little as two hours you can be installing, writing and editing your own cgi scripts to handle mailing lists, order processing, feedback forms, discussion forums and more. ... Read more