CGI/Perl (Web Warrior Series) [Paperback]

Diane Zak (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0619034408 | ISBN-13: 978-0619034405 | Publication Date: August 9, 2001 | Edition: 1

CGI/Perl teaches users how to write CGI programs using the Perl programming language, the most common way Web sites accept orders over the Internet. Users begin the book with an introduction to the Perl language and progress into developing forms and graphics using CGI. Each chapter includes hands-on exercises and case projects to encourage readers to work with the concepts they studied. Case projects run from chapter to chapter so readers have three working CGI applications they can include in any Web portfolio.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Diane Zak is a best-selling CT programming author of VB6, Intro to Programming with C++, and a forthcoming book on Visual Basic for Applications. She is also a professor of CIS at College of DuPage.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology; 1 edition (August 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0619034408
• ISBN-13: 978-0619034405
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #650,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A decade out of date and caught in the mire of drudgery.., March 4, 2010

By 

Bradley D. Thornton (Super Sunny Southern California USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: CGI/Perl (Web Warrior Series) (Paperback)

Of all the IT related books I've owned and used this has to be the second worst, and I've had a lot.

I own a rather extensive library of computer technology books, most are well weathered, dog eared, and marked up with highlighters and notes in the margins. I use them all the time - even the outdated ones.

But not this book. It is excrutiatingly tedious, and the other students in my class are constantly having problems with it that require them to depend upon the more advanced students to explain subject matter in a straight-forward and concise manner.

This book covers, in 348 pages, what most of the classic Perl books and books on CGI cover in about 4 or 5 chapters. This book doesn't even introduce 'here-doc' formats until page 276 - and then only briefly and coverage using that standard format for generating CGI with that method is virtually abandonded throughout the rest of the book.

The book begins using CGI.pm without even explaining what a Perl module is, and coverage and usage of other modules that have been around for years are virtually non-existent. DBI isn't even really part of this 'course', and it's the framework for using CGI in the first place.

This book follows the following format: Type this in exactly like this. Now do this. now do this. Gee! Aren't we learning? The one thing that I can say was written well are the end of the chapter questions. They really provide good coverage. It's simply "Programmed instruction", stiff, rigid, and with a complete lack of insightful gleanings.

This is a really BAD book (and I don't mean BAD as in BOSS or NEATO either), yet fortunately, I have other Perl books that I can turn to instead for learning the content covered in the course, and write my own code to generate the HTML output that my instructors assignments ask for.

Oh, did I mention the infinitesimally small text that dictates what to type? I'm not kidding when I say I have to use a magnifying glass.

Avoid this book like the plague!

Abhorrent!



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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Out of Date but still helpful, January 18, 2010

By 

J. Buckley "knotty-professor" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: CGI/Perl (Web Warrior Series) (Paperback)

I needed this book for a class I am taking on Interactive Web Design. Overall I found the book information sufficient for the class, though it's use of Perl rather than what I would consider a more robust language such as PHP as a let down. I am sure at the time of writing the choice of language was much more meaningful but that was nine years ago and it is time for an update.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A students view, April 25, 2008

By 

mstlyn43 (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CGI/Perl (Web Warrior Series) (Paperback)

As an online student my opinion is that this book is not good at all. I am taking the same course for the second time,and struggling again.
Perhaps this book would be fine in an "on campus" environment, but where there is no instructor to get help face to face, a better book is definitely needed. I just ordered "Perl Black Book" and "Perl Cookbook" which were recommended by an online tutor.
Hopefully they arrive quickly, and can help me get through the course this time around.