Creating Cool Web Pages With Perl (Paperback)

~ Jerry Muelver (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

ONCE YOU'VE MASTERED HTML, you're ready to take your Web site to the next step by adding things like interactivity, database interfacing, online ordering, searching, on-the-fly pages, and all those other terrific features that make Web sites more effective and more impressive. With Creating Cool Web Sites with Perl, you'll discover how to write server-side CGI scripts in the language Perl to do all these things and more. Plus, on the bonus CD-ROM, you'll find all the source code that appears in the book (ready for you to tweak to your heart's content), Web authoring tools, and other invaluable resources to get you off to a fast start.

Product Details

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc (Computers) (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764530186
• ISBN-13: 978-0764530180
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,333,246 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book for getting started with CGI & Perl, June 23, 1997

By A Customer

This book succeeds in accomplishing what it sets out to do-get beginners started with Perl CGI programming. It did that for me. The writing style is folksy and easy to read. There are plenty of examples and most of the explanations are clear. I don't give it a 10 because there are a couple of drawbacks.

At times, too many new concepts are mixed together in the code examples and presented to the reader to sort out on his or her own. I think this is forgivable considering that the author was under space constraints. In the end, I was able to sort out all the examples. The other drawback is that there are a number of errors in the program listings. This problem, however, is well addressed at the book's web site (www.hytext.com/coolperl/index.html) where fixes, updates and links to other Perl resources are posted.

The web site adds a great deal of value to the book. One of its best features is the bulletin board where you can communicate with the author. He was very responsive to my questions.

No, the book isn't perfect, but yes, I recommend it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SUMMARY: IT WON'T MAKE YOU SICK.
, December 19, 1996

By A Customer

I've purchased several books on CGI and PERL.

I'm *not* a programmer and Mr. Muelver's book is an *excellent* resource for those of us suddenly thrust into programming by way of wanting Cool Web Pages. The book is well-written -- which means to me that it's intelligent, packed with information, and funny -- *without* being condescending, or worse yet, *cute*.

Not to mention the fact that it's the only CGI/PERL purchase I made which *didn't* send me to the medicine cabinet looking for either aspirin (to cure the headache created by techno- horrible writing) or seltzer (to cure the nausea created by the "We treat you like you're a three-year old" writing).

If you're going to buy only one book on CGI/PERL, make it this one. If you're going to buy several, make this one first.

Claire Amundsen ([e-mail])

2.0 out of 5 stars It contains some good text, but has a bad writing style., September 15, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Chicagoland, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews

The book has information, but far too often it glosses over important points, sometimes even rudely ("I would like to help you, but I'm a forms guy.") Formatting is inconsistet. Errors are not infrequent (like the diagram showing HTTP requests as client -> CGI -> server on p50.) Bad organization left me wondering for chapters about topics introduced and left unexplored. This is not, IMO, a book for beginners to programming. And on a personal note, the title is insipid and the font unbalanced.