One of the best things about Perl and CGI for the World Wide Web is the seamless way the author incorporates terminology into her explanations. Elizabeth Castro, author of HTML 4 for the World Wide Web, understands the intermediate user: someone who would be bored by a beginner's guide, but isn't ready to step up to heavy-hitting programming texts either.
In Perl and CGI, she explains basic concepts--such as the difference between a compiled and an interpreted script--within the text, so there's no need to keep flipping back to the glossary. Readers should be familiar with HTML and comfortable with technical explanations, diagrams, and general vocabulary.
Anyone trying to get a grasp on something as complex and powerful as Perl will appreciate Castro's relatively straightforward technique. For example, in the first chapter, Castro explains some basic Perl concepts sensibly: that the $ stands for the s in scalar; the @ sign stands for the a in array; and that the % that labels a hash or associative array indicates two circles on each side of the slash as parts of a pair. This granular, logical way of building Perl knowledge will get new Perl users started. More experienced users will want to use this book as a workbook and refresher. --Jennifer Buckendorff
Book Description
Perl is by far the most popular programming language for creating scripts that add powerful interactive features to Web pages. Included on most UNIX platforms and available free of charge for Windows and Macintosh, Perl lets you place forms on your Web site that collect and process user input such as product orders and comments, enable visitors to conduct keyword searches for information on your site, and integrate a database into your site, among many other capabilities.Perl and CGI for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickStart Guide gets you to the heart of Perl scripting with CGI. Even first-time programmers will be able to create interactive Web pages and, more importantly, you'll be able to use your new-found familiarity with Perl to understand and customize the multitude of scripts that already exist on the Web. Following on the huge success of Liz Castro's top-selling HTML:Visual QuickStart Guide-the book to have to learn or reference HTML-Castro's Perl and CGI for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickStart Guide is soon to becomethe choice for learning Perl and CGI. Author of the acclaimed, best-selling HTML:Visual QuickStart Guide, with over 100,000 copies sold. Teaches you all you need to know to start creating CGI scripts in Perl. Shows how to make your Web pages stand out with interactive features such as guest books and forms. Assumes no prior programming experience.
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