Customer Reviews

Using Cgi (Special Edition Using)

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

 

 

I've yet to come up with a CGI programming question that wasn't answered in this book. I used it to implement the CGI examples on my web site.

I really enjoy the Using Series, and look for them whenever I want to learn more about a certain topic. However, this book is deplorable. It is not made for anyone looking to write their own code, or anyone who actually wants to program. All this book tries to do is show you how to use someone else's code. I do not mean another module, such as the infamous CGI.pm moudle, but rather using another script and "tweaking" it for your needs. It also does not seek to explain the theory behind the code. I was also quite disappointed in how it was organized. The Using Seies are good books, but this one doesn't belong in the family. There are much better books out there that will serve your needs.

I found this book to be hard to read and poorly written. The examples are very difficult to follow because most are only code segments not the full code. This makes it very diffcult to follow. As any experienced programmer will tell you "Nothing helps more than a good example.". This book is highly lacking of good examples. I have several years of experience with programming in several languages, which allowed me to fill the gaps in the examples, how ever a beginning programmer would be lost. In conclusion I do not recommend this book to a programmer of any level.

This book is a wonderful introduction to CGI. It has examples (or tells you where you can find them on the web) of different CGI's in several programming languages. The book gives intricate explanations on how to handle form data and how to obtain information from environmental variables, the core of CGI programming.

I would recommend this book to any programmer looking to apply his/her skills to CGI.

The book Using CGI is a gem. I started reading this book nonstop for about 3.5 hours while on a 5 hour flight. I got through about 4 chapters. I spent the rest of the time programming on my notebook. You know you can only absorb so much in any one sitting (grin). I am not new to programming, but is new to CGI and HTML. The authors were able to explain the subject without boring or frustrating this reader. The first few chapters gives you some history, etc. as well as teaching you how to create forms with radio buttons, check boxes, etc. It also tells you about the Submit and Reset commands. This is the stuff that form creation and data capture is all about. I loved it. I could not wait to create my own test form so I plunged right into it and powered up my notebook. It was a easy as they said. Now when I look at the "View Source" button on my browser, it finally makes sense :-). I especially loved the section on using Visual Basic for CGI as this was the area that I had no clue about but was most interested in. Chapter 21, I think. The authors first give you an explanation of what they were about to tell you, then take you through the steps line by line, carefully explaining each facet of the line. If you want to create sites that "sing" on the web and collect data efficiently using Perl, C++, Java, or VB then this is the book for you. Some of these tools are included with the book. You also receive sample scripts on the enclosed CD-ROM. What a deal. I continue to read the book and once I have planned my site strategy (this weekend), I will start using the techniques learned in Using CGI. Thanks fellows! P.S. It is a little heavy though :-

I used this book to work on a course project that involved CGI coding. This was my very first exposure to developing a web application. And this book was an asset to have. The book gives you a jump start on HTML (if your're not familiar with it already) and exposes you to various applications of CGI. However, I often felt that the information that I was looking for wasn't contained within a chapter or section; rather I had to hunt for it. But surely enough the information was there. And the author gives you a lot of useful refrences to web-sites that have treasures of stuff on CGIs. I wouldn't recommend this book to someone already familiar with CGI, but for starters - you won't find a better book!

I found this book to be hard to read and poorly written. The examples are very difficult to follow because most are only code segments not the full code. This makes it very diffcult to follow. As any experienced programmer will tell you "Nothing helps more than a good example.". This book is highly lacking of good examples. I have several years of experience with programming in several languages, which allowed me to fill the gaps in the examples, how ever a beginning programmer would be lost. In conclusion I do not recommend this book to a programmer of any level.

...but this is not (and obviously was never intended to be) a textbook for learning any particular scripting language.

I used this book as an adjunct to learning Perl programming (using some of the excellant O'Reilly Perl books) and it provided just what those works lacked: an overview of CGI technology with lots of examples to illuminate some of the obscure corners everyone else seem's to expect that you already know!

I would have given this five stars if the book's organization or index had made finding particular points a little easier - for a rank beginner in CGI with often no clue what subject needed to be looked up! Admittedly, that's a difficult thing to provide.

This book covers a lot of web technologies, but hardly helps in the actual process of making CGI scripts. If the authors had decided to focus on CGI programming in C and Perl and discussed that for the most of the book, with appendices on other technologies, I would have found that acceptable. Instead there are entire sections on different web technologies (like WAIS and Web Cameras) that contain smattering of CGI every once in a while. This book will confuse you more than it helps you, and will make you hunt for information that should be together but is instead scattered through the book and placed in chapters which have nothing to do with what you might be looking for. Take my advice, look elsewhere.