Perl and CGI for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickStart Guide, Second Edition

Writing CGI Applications with Perl

CGI Programming with Perl

Perl Cookbook, Second Edition

Perl Books

CGI Programming 101: Programming Perl for the World Wide Web, Second Edition

Format: Paperback
Author: Jacqueline D. Hamilton
ReleaseDate: 01 March, 2004
Publisher: CGI101.com
Rating:

CGI Programming 101 - Reader Review
com
Publication date: 2004
Website: www. CGI Programming 101 - Perl for the World Wide Web (Second Edition)
by Jacqueline Hamilton
Publisher: CGI101.cgi101. com

An excellent introduction to Perl programming, good for beginners but also very useful to more experienced programmers who want a quick understanding of Perl and it's capabilities on the web.

Chapters include: Perl variables (including summary list of native variable functions), online forms, file access for read/write operations, server-side includes (SSI), string and arithmetic operators, searching and sorting data, pattern matching (using an email validation expression as an example), database programming (examples given using MySQL), CGI security issues (keeping your scripts secure), and how to password-protect a specific location on your site to create a secure area. For people accessing their scripts on a Unix server, a short appendix shows some common Unix shell commands, which will help you find your way around and set the relevant file permissions etc.

Overall a very well written and nicely designed book, which includes lots of practical examples you can copy and adapt to your own needs.

There is also an excellent accompanying website at www. cgi101. com/book, which has the first six chapters of the book and loads of code examples online for free, and the first six chapters are also downloadable in pdf format for free. I actually wrote my first Perl script from the first six chapters while I was waiting for the book to arrive, which kept me entertained and is a great way to test-drive the book.

One thing to remember as you play, however, is that the file access parameters and permissions required to use shared resources on your server may be different from the examples given in the book. This means the path to your sendmail program, for example, may be different. Some examples may work on one server, but not on another. You will have to check the specific requirements with your server administrator or ISP. If you are familiar with writing web scripts you will already know this, but if you are new to web scripting this is one thing to bear in mind.

I highly recommend this book and accompanying website to anybody interested in learning Perl. I know I will certainly get the max out of my copy, as it has already proven itself. Thank you Jacqui!
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