essential Perl 5 For Web Professionals

essential Perl 5 FOR WEB PROFESSIONALS is a quick overview of Perl scripting that will get you up and running some basic Perl scripts in no time. It is not meant to be a know all, tell all book delving deep into the Perl scripting language. This means it doesn't bog you down with deep concepts. The book jumps right in to getting you moving with your first script.

It begins by giving you the most commonly used functions and then moves into variables and arrays. The book moves fairly quickly through each topic and tutorial, but you will learn just as quickly as you can read and do the exercises.

The book also includes some Perl scripts that you can put to everyday use. You'll also be creating your own scripts as you work through the book. Scripts included that you will learn are an E-mail, Guest book, Search Engine, Poll, and Visitor Tracking scripts. There is also a web site you can go to listed in the book to get the files that are used in the book for tutorials.

As the author takes you through each tutorial, you'll learn something new, and especially valuable at the end of each lesson is an explanation of how the script you just learned works line by line. There are also exercises included at the end of each chapter that helps you to learn by reinforcing what you've already learned in previous chapters.

essential Perl 5 FOR WEB PROFESSIONALS also details what you will need to work through the tutorials. You will need an ISP that is currently using Perl, allows you a telnet session directly to the machine that's running Perl 5, and will allow you to write your own scripts. If those things are not possible, I do know of a site on the web that I use to write and test my scripts. Useractive is an online service that, for a small monthly fee, allows you access to learn, write, and test Perl scripts.

This book was extremely easy to follow and is well written. It is one of the easiest I have come across for getting up and running quickly. It is not, as mentioned, a complete primer on Perl. If you plan to use Perl extensively it would be wise to check into other manuals as well to use as reference material. Whatever your purpose, essential Perl 5 FOR WEB PROFESSIONALS is a good book to have handy.

Prentice Hall Website

essential Perl 5 FOR WEB PROFESSIONALS
Authors: Micah Brown, Chris Bellew, Dan Livingston
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Pages: 163
Price: $29.99 (US) $44.95 (CAN)

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