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Most Perl programmers struggle with debugging, learning the hard way -- and wasting time, money, and energy. In Debugging Perl, two leading Perl developers offer practical techniques that can help you debug Perl code faster and with less frustration, avoid problems in the first place, and optimize every Perl program you write. The authors start by introducing the right mindset for Perl development and debugging: attitudes, beliefs, and behavior that lead to successful code. Next, you'll discover how to avoid problems by "coding defensively" and reducing the complexity of your code. Debugging Perl identifies problems that occur repeatedly in Perl code, showing exactly how to identify and avoid syntax errors, run-time exceptions, semantical errors, resource failures, and the unique problems associated with Perl CGI code. You'll walk through tracing code, and every stage of a rigorous testing process: inspection, unit testing, regression testing, saturation testing, and acceptance testing. The book includes thorough coverage of the Perl debugger, as well as a detailed Appendix presenting debugger commands. For every Perl programmer: new and intermediate-level Perl programmers seeking to save time and money, and advanced Perl programmers seeking to fine-tune their code and mentor others.

After providing an introduction to the Perl programming language, this helpful guide teaches computer networking using Perl. Topics discussed include ethernet network analysis, programming standard Internet protocols, and exploring mobile agent programming.* Each chapter provides a general discussion of the technologies under consideration, the support for programming the technologies as provided by Perl, and implementations of working examples* Covers Mobile Agent Technology, which is set to become one of the "next big things" on the Internet* Further information is supplied, including a listing of Web and print resources, programming exercises, and tips to expand the reader's understanding of the material

Among the many different approaches to "templating" with Perl--such as Embperl, Mason, HTML::Template, and hundreds of other lesser known systems--the Template Toolkit is widely recognized as one of the most versatile. Like other templating systems, the Template Toolkit allows programmers to embed Perl code and custom macros into HTML documents in order to create customized documents on the fly. But unlike the others, the Template Toolkit is as facile at producing HTML as it is at producing XML, PDF, or any other output format. And because it has its own simple templating language, templates can be written and edited by people who don't know Perl. In short, the Template Toolkit combines the best features of its competitors, with ease-of-use and flexibility, resulting in a technology that's fast, powerful and extensible, and ideally suited to the production and maintenance of web content and other dynamic document systems.In Perl Template Toolkit you'll find detailed coverage of this increasingly popular technology. Written by core members of the technology's development team, the book guides you through the entire process of installing, configuring, using, and extending the Template Toolkit. It begins with a fast-paced but thorough tutorial on building web content with the Template Toolkit, and then walks you through generating and using data files, particularly with XML. It also provides detailed information on the Template Toolkit's modules, libraries, and tools in addition to a complete reference manual.Topics in the book include:Getting started with the template toolkit The Template language Template directives Filters Plugins Extending the Template Toolkit Accessing databases XML Advanced static web page techniques Dynamic web content and web applications The only book to cover this important tool, Perl Template Toolkit is essential reading for any Perl programmer who wants to create dynamic web content that is remarkably easy to maintain. This book is your surefire guide to implementing this fast, flexible, and powerful templating system.

With millions of users worldwide, Perl is increasingly the language of choice for Web development. This title is updated to include coverage of Perl 5.6 - a major new release which is not covered by most competing books. Written by a Perl expert - Martin Brown is the author of the well-received first-edition, as well as "Perl: Programmer's Reference". It includes comprehensive coverage appropriate for developers of every level.

“I picked up a copy of JavaScript by Example over the weekend and wanted to thank you for putting out a book that makes JavaScript easy to understand. I’ve been a developer for several years now and JS has always been the “monster under the bed,” so to speak. Your book has answered a lot of questions I’ve had about the inner workings of JS but was afraid to ask. Now all I need is a book that covers Ajax and Coldfusion. Thanks again for putting together an outstanding book.” –Chris Gomez, Web services manager, Zunch Worldwide, Inc. “I have been reading your UNIX® Shells by Example book, and I must say, it is brilliant. Most other books do not cover all the shells, and when you have to constantly work in an organization that uses tcsh, bash, and korn, it can become very difficult. However, your book has been indispensable to me in learning the various shells and the differences between them…so I thought I’d email you, just to let you know what a great job you have done!” –Farogh-Ahmed Usmani, B.Sc. (Honors), M.Sc., DIC, project consultant (Billing Solutions), Comverse “I have been learning Perl for about two months now; I have a little shell scripting experience but that is it. I first started with Learning Perl by O’Reilly. Good book but lacking on the examples. I then went to Programming Perl by Larry Wall, a great book for intermediate to advanced, didn’t help me much beginning Perl. I then picked up Perl by Example, Third Edition–this book is a superb, well-written programming book. I have read many computer books and this definitely ranks in the top two, in my opinion. The examples are excellent. The author shows you the code, the output of each line, and then explains each line in every example.” –Dan Patterson, software engineer, GuideWorks, LLC “Ellie Quigley has written an outstanding introduction to Perl, which I used to learn the language from scratch. All one has to do is work through her examples, putz around with them, and before long, you’re relatively proficient at using the language. Even though I’ve graduated to using Programming Perl by Wall et al., I still find Quigley’s book a most useful reference.” –Casey Machula, support systems analyst, Northern Arizona University, College of Health and Human Services “When I look at my bookshelf, I see eleven books on Perl programming. Perl by Example, Third Edition, isn’t on the shelf; it sits on my desk, where I use it almost daily. When I bought my copy I had not programmed in several years and my programming was mostly in COBOL so I was a rank beginner at Perl. I had at that time purchased several popular books on Perl but nothing that really put it together for me. I am still no pro, but my book has many dog-eared pages and each one is a lesson I have learned and will certainly remember. “I still think it is the best Perl book on the market for anyone from a beginner to a seasoned programmer using Perl almost daily.” –Bill Maples, network design tools and automations analyst, Fidelity National Information Services “We are rewriting our intro to OS scripting course and selected your text for the course. It’s an exceptional book. The last time we considered it was a few years ago (second edition). The debugging and system administrator chapters at the end nailed it for us.” –Jim Leone, Ph.D., professor and chair, Information Technology, Rochester Institute of Technology “Quigley’s book acknowledges a major usage of PHP. To write some kind of front end user interface program that hooks to a back end MySQL database. Both are free and open source, and the combination has proved popular. Especially where the front end involves making an HTML web page with embedded PHP commands. “Not every example involves both PHP and MySQL. Though all examples have PHP. Many demonstrate how to use PHP inside an HTML file. Like writing user-defined functions, or nesting functions. Or making or using function libraries. The functions are a key idea in PHP, that take you beyond the elementary syntax. Functions also let you gainfully use code by other PHP programmers. Important if you are part of a coding group that has to divide up the programming effort in some manner.” –Dr. Wes Boudville, CTO, Metaswarm Inc. The World’s Easiest Perl Tutorial–Fully Updated! Perl by Example, Fourth Edition, is the easiest, most hands-on way to learn Perl. Legendary Silicon Valley programming instructor Ellie Quigley has thoroughly updated her classic to deliver the skills and information today’s Perl users need most–including all-new coverage of MySQL database programming and a Perl QuickStart designed to get experienced users up and running fast. Quigley illuminates every technique with focused, classroom-tested code examples, detailed line-by-line explanations, and real program output. This exceptionally clear, easy-to-understand book takes you from your first Perl script to database-driven applications. It’s the only Perl book you’ll ever need! New in this edition: Perl programming QuickStart: makes first-time Perl programmers productive in just twenty pages All-new chapter on using the Perl DBI with the MySQL database–plus an easy SQL primer to quickly get you started programming any database New introductions to Perl in biology (bioinformatics) and to mod_perl, a Perl interpreter embedded in the Apache server, which allows you to create fast, dynamic content; manage the Apache server; authenticate users; and much more Completely updated: Includes many new and completely rewritten code examples Contains fully revised CGI coverage for building dynamic Web sites with Perl Covers modern Perl 5.8 concepts and principles–and provides a great foundation for Perl 6 More than 30,000 sysadmins, power users, and developers have used previous editions of Perl by Example to become expert Perl programmers. With Perl by Example, Fourth Edition, you can, too–even if you’re completely new to Perl. After you’ve become an expert, you’ll turn to this book constantly as the best source for reliable answers, solutions, and code. About the CD-ROM: The CD-ROM includes all code and files for this book’s hundreds of example scripts.

Many programmers code by instinct, relying on convenient habits or a "style" they picked up early on. They aren't conscious of all the choices they make, like how they format their source, the names they use for variables, or the kinds of loops they use. They're focused entirely on problems they're solving, solutions they're creating, and algorithms they're implementing. So they write code in the way that seems natural, that happens intuitively, and that feels good. But if you're serious about your profession, intuition isn't enough. Perl Best Practices author Damian Conway explains that rules, conventions, standards, and practices not only help programmers communicate and coordinate with one another, they also provide a reliable framework for thinking about problems, and a common language for expressing solutions. This is especially critical in Perl, because the language is designed to offer many ways to accomplish the same task, and consequently it supports many incompatible dialects. With a good dose of Aussie humor, Dr. Conway (familiar to many in the Perl community) offers 256 guidelines on the art of coding to help you write better Perl code--in fact, the best Perl code you possibly can. The guidelines cover code layout, naming conventions, choice of data and control structures, program decomposition, interface design and implementation, modularity, object orientation, error handling, testing, and debugging. They're designed to work together to produce code that is clear, robust, efficient, maintainable, and concise, but Dr. Conway doesn't pretend that this is the one true universal and unequivocal set of best practices. Instead, Perl Best Practices offers coherent and widely applicable suggestions based on real-world experience of how code is actually written, rather than on someone's ivory-tower theories on how software ought to be created. Most of all, Perl Best Practices offers guidelines that actually work, and that many developers around the world are already using. Much like Perl itself, these guidelines are about helping you to get your job done, without getting in the way. Praise for Perl Best Practices from Perl community members: "As a manager of a large Perl project, I'd ensure that every member of my team has a copy of Perl Best Practices on their desk, and use it as the basis for an in-house style guide." -- Randal Schwartz "There are no more excuses for writing bad Perl programs. All levels of Perl programmer will be more productive after reading this book." -- Peter Scott "Perl Best Practices will be the next big important book in the evolution of Perl. The ideas and practices Damian lays down will help bring Perl out from under the embarrassing heading of "scripting languages". Many of us have known Perl is a real programming language, worthy of all the tasks normally delegated to Java and C++. With Perl Best Practices, Damian shows specifically how and why, so everyone else can see, too." -- Andy Lester "Damian's done what many thought impossible: show how to build large, maintainable Perl applications, while still letting Perl be the powerful, expressive language that programmers have loved for years." -- Bill Odom "Finally, a means to bring lasting order to the process and product of real Perl development teams." -- Andrew Sundstrom"Perl Best Practices provides a valuable education in how to write robust, maintainable Perl, and is a definitive citation source when coaching other programmers." -- Bennett Todd"I've been teaching Perl for years, and find the same question keeps being asked: Where can I find a reference for writing reusable, maintainable Perl code? Finally I have a decent answer." -- Paul Fenwick"At last a well researched, well thought-out, comprehensive guide to Perl style. Instead of each of us developing our own, we can learn good practices from one of Perl's most prolific and experienced authors. I recommend this book to anyone who prefers getting on with the job rather than going back and fixing errors caused by syntax and poor style issues." -- Jacinta Richardson"If you care about programming in any language read this book. Even if you don't intend to follow all of the practices, thinking through your style will improve it." -- Steven Lembark"The Perl community's best author is back with another outstanding book. There has never been a comprehensive reference on high quality Perl coding and style until Perl Best Practices. This book fills a large gap in every Perl bookshelf." -- Uri Guttman

The book is written in an exploratory style: try something and then understand how it works. It will guide you through the features of Catalyst using real-world examples and systematic code snippets. If you are a Perl Developer and want to strengthen your skill by understanding Web Application development using MVC principles, then this book is for you.

Writing CGI Applications with Perl is a start-to-finish guide to accomplishing key Web development tasks by fully using the power of Perl and CGI together. Using extensive examples, careful line-by-line explanations, and skill-stretching exercises, it not only provides useful cut-and-paste code: it also teaches the practical skills and techniques you'll need to build virtually any CGI-based application. Kevin Meltzer and Brent Michalski cover every key area of Web application development with Perl: database integration, form and file handling, security, e-mail, graphics, and more. The book's in-depth coverage includes: working with HTML Web forms and obtaining user input; placing cookies and tracking clicks; connecting to POP3 e-mail servers; embedding Perl in HTML using HTML::Mason; remote file management across the Web; creating dynamic images; and working with XML. The book also provides detailed explanations and examples of working with Perl DBI, as well as start-to-finish coverage of configuring and using the popular mod_perl Apache module. All of the sample code will be available at a companion web site.

Mason doesn't aim to be the one true Perl-based templating system for building web sites, but it's led many programmers to abandon their custom solutions when they've seen how much easier using Mason can be. It's a powerful, open source, Perl-based web site development and delivery engine, with features that make it an ideal backend for high load sites serving dynamic content. Mason uses a concept called components: a mix of HTML, Perl, and special Mason commands. These components can be entire web pages, or bits of HTML that can be embedded in top-level components. Shared and reusable, these components greatly simplify site maintenance: when you change a shared component, you instantly change all pages that refer to it.Although using Mason isn't difficult, creating a Mason-based site can be tricky. Embedding Perl in HTML with Mason, written by members of Mason's core development team, shows you how to take advantage of Mason's strengths while avoiding the obstacles that inexperienced users may encounter. Mason's unique features, when used properly, can streamline the design of a web site or application. This concise book covers these features from several angles, and includes a study of the authors' sample site where these features are used.Embedding Perl in HTML with Mason shows you how to create large, complex, dynamically driven web sites that look good and are a snap to maintain. You'll learn how to visualize multiple Mason-based solutions to any given problem and select among them. The book covers the latest line of Mason development 1.1x, which has many new features, including line number reporting based on source files, sub-requests, and easier use as a CGI. The only book to cover this important tool, Embedding Perl in HTML with Mason is essential reading for any Perl programmer who wants to simplify web site design. Learn how to use Mason, and you'll spend more time making things work, and less time reinventing the wheel.

Perl is an immensely popular scripting language that combines the best features of C, key UNIX utilities and a powerful use of regular expressions. It has a wide range of uses beyond simple text processing and is commonly used for web programming - creating and parsing CGI forms, validating HTML syntax and hyperlinks - as well as e-mail and Usenet news filtering. Perl is increasingly the system administrator's scripting language of choice and is used for file and directory manipulation, database access and a whole range of daily system operator chores.