The Cgi/Perl Cookbook (Paperback)

by Craig Patchett (Author), Matthew Wright (Author) "Welcome to the CGI/Perl Cookbook!..." (more)
Key Phrases: block from line, field selection form, lock subroutine, Feedback Admin, Programming Perl, Perl Cookbook (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Custom subroutine library for developing your own CGI programs
* Line-by-line explanations of 20 of the most popular CGI programs and subroutines that are essential to your Web site
* Compatible with Perl 4 and 5
* Tested under WindowsR(r), UNIXR(r), and MacOSR(r)

If you want to make your Web site as interactive as possible, as soon as possible, you've come to the right place! This book/CD powerhouse arms you with 20 of today's most-demanded CGI programs and subroutines, designed and written especially for this book, each ready to load and use. At the same time, it offers you a quick, painless, and unique hands-on way to learn basic and advanced CGI/Perl programming.

The CGI/Perl Cookbook begins with a concise overview of CGI programming for beginners, followed by a guide to installing CGI programs on UNIX, PC, and MacOS Web servers. The rest of the book is devoted to line-by-line, feature-by-feature explanations of seven cutting-edge CGI programs; including a search engine, password protection, advanced form processing, a shopping cart, customized bulk e-mail, advanced visitor feedback, and more; as well as 13 subroutines for e-mail support, file encoding, credit card validation, e-mail address checking, error handling, and text encryption. You also get a usage guide, installation instructions, and professional CGI and Perl programming tricks and customization tips for each program and subroutine.

The CD-ROM is a gold mine of ready-to-use software and valuable information. You get:
* All the CGI programs from the book-code and ready-to-run versions
* The complete Matt's Script Archive
* A collection of the best scripts from across the Web-source code included
* The complete Perl programming manual
* The most recent Windows, UNIX, and MacOS versions of Perl

From the Publisher
Souping up a Web site has never been easier. This book/CD-ROM set offers a complete introduction to CGI programming with Perl plus a collection of sophisticated CGI programs that readers can use to add popular functions to their Web sites, including search engines, passwords, product databases, a shopping cart, custom forms, animated images, and more. Readers will learn how to incorporate the scripts into their own Web sites, how to customize them for their own goals, and how to use a host of other CGI and Perl programming tricks to create unique and interactive Web sites. CD-ROM includes all the CGI programs from the book--both code and ready-to-run versions; a full copy of Matt's Script Archive," a collection of the best scripts from across the Web.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 656 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons (October 14, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471168963
• ISBN-13: 978-0471168966
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #826,124 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #16 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Languages & Tools > CGI Programming
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A terrific resource for Web developers, July 20, 1999

By A Customer

I almost didn't buy this book after reading some of the negative reviews, but decided to take a look at it after noticing that none of the negative reviews went into much detail...making me wonder if the reviews were accurate or just the result of some kind of grudge against Mr. Patchett or Mr. Wright. I'm glad I took the time to look at, and subsequently buy, the book.

With a few exceptions, I think most of the other reviews for this book do a good job of pointing out its imperfections. There are some inevitable bugs (corrected at the book's Web site), I wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't have any interest in learning at least a little bit about Perl, and it could use some additional detail on the installation process for the scripts in some places.

That's the bad news. The good news, on the other hand, is that it is an invaluable resource for learning CGI scripting with Perl, especially for anyone who, like me, likes to learn by looking at actual code and having someone explain it. I've already used several of the scripts as is, modified one other, and borrowed code from several places to start building a custom script of my own. I think I got my $40 worth the first day I had it!

Having spent some time with the book, I feel that somebody should address some of the issues brought up in some of the other "hit and run" reviews posted here. While it's true that the scripts are written in Perl 4 (which is backwards compatible with Perl 4), the authors have pointed out that this was a conscious choice on their part because Perl 4 is easier for the beginner to learn. I agree. As for the comments about security issues, I am familiar with the problems that were inherent with Mr. Wright's older scripts and these problems, as far as I can see, do not exist in the scripts presented in the book. Either Mr. Wright has learned from his previous mistakes or Mr. Patchett had a hand in removing security holes. Searching through the archives for the book's mailing list, I only came across one reported security problem in the last two years of posts to the list and a solution to that problem was promptly posted by the authors.

One last thing that I really like about this book is the support for it that the authors provided by setting up a private mailing list for book owners. Not only do members of the list help each other out with any questions about the book's scripts (whether simple or complex), but there are also some great discussions on enhancing the scripts and adding additional features to them. How often have you bought a book and been stranded without any support? That the book's mailing list is going strong two years after the book's release is a testimony to its value.

In short, I feel that this book makes a great addition to any Web developer's library, and is particularly useful to anyone developing CGI scripts of their own.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent code, excellent support, September 10, 1999

By A Customer

This book is just what I was looking for...the printed equivalent of someone sitting down with me and explaining how their CGI scripts work and going over each one line by line. I've used some of the scripts as is, modified others, and cut and paste code from several (including the subroutines) to create my own scripts. I have yet to see any Perl or CGI book that makes me want to throw all the others away, but this one will be on my desk long after most of the others have gone. (And the book's private support mailing list is frosting on the cake!)

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good for "Plug 'n' Play" and for Learning the Ropes, November 22, 1997

By	[e-mail] (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This is obviously a book that a lot of time and care went into, on the part of both authors. The CGI/Perl Cookbook has all of the best "goodies" from the excellent Matt's Script Archive website on its CD-ROM, and a chapter on each of the scripts carefully walks you through every line, explaining (in refreshingly non-technogeek language!) the programming theory behind each element and how the total script works. I found this very useful when I began writing my own Perl scripts.

Matt's easy-to-modify CGI scripts are also great for people who don't care *why* it works, they just want it to work. With the excellent documentation Craig and Matt supply, these are as close to foolproof as CGI scripting ("Aaagh! 500 Server Error!!") gets, and all 20 scripts covered in the book are the basic, useful kind that anyone handling websites will want to use sooner or later (guestbook, form mail, feedback, and a really well-designed web store.)

Excellent value; this is the kind of book you'll keep and use for years, whether it's your stepping-stone to writing your own scripts or whether you never want to get more in-depth than just typing in the path to your Perl executable.