Customer Reviews

Perl Fast & Easy Web Development (Fast & Easy (Premier Press))

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is not a know it all book on Perl, but it will get you started coding and executing right away.

I liked the way Les takes you through coding a program step by step and then explaining what each step accomplishes. The book has about 20 coding and execution examples, some just pure perl, some using HTML and some with a little javascript. Even if you don't know these areas you get the feel for how Perl interfaces with them.

The book will also take you into ways to do some data base interfacing. Les uses Microsofts Access for the data base example, but will also work if you know mySQL. Les will even give you steps for setting up the PWS (Personal Web Server) on non Windows XP operating systems like W98.

The last chapter takes you through a complete case study using a contact data base using some web design principles.

With the exception of a a few minor coding errors, this book in my opinion is top notch and the very best for getting a good head start on learning Perl.

I teach perl and web design at the university level and was very disappointed with this book. The author first covers the basics of perl but does so in a manner for suited for a mechanical user's guide than a tutorial. Each variable type is covered first, scalars through hashes, before moving on to topics like conditionals and loop constructs. In practice this approach means that the student can't run any meaningful test programs until they are, in this case, 100 pages into the book. The author gets around this by using loops in his examples 30 pages or so before they are even introduced.

How to actually get a webserver running is glossed over, with instructions only for Microsoft Personal Web Server for windows 98 or NT (!!!). The HTML introduction uses coding styles and conventions from the early days of the web, before content and style separation with CSS became standard for developers. Here he encourages the use of antiquated things (by web standards) like the font tag and frames, both indicators of outdated web development technique.

As for actually using perl for web development, he doesn't even mention templating techniques and tools such as HTML::Template, Mason or the template toolkit. Without these the user might as well just be using PHP.

I usually am pretty forgiving with technical books so I have to mention something good. I do like the simple way each short topic is presented with screenshots to guide the user along. the text is also fairly lucid and well-written. However, I definitely can't recommend this book mostly because everything it introduces are as if it was written in 1997, which is ages ago in terms of the web. If you want something more modern I suggest something like Suehring's "Beginning Perl Web Development: From Novice to Professional" or just using the myriad of free tutorials online. Both would be far better than this book.

I received the book prompt, in very good condition and in time for school. I was very satisfied with the product and service.