Reviews for Perl and CGI for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickStart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)

1. This book is my bible.

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, November 12th, 2005

   I have been programming since 1977. When I finally broke down and realized I was going to have to learn ANOTHER language I went out and reluctantly bought this book because it was the only one on the shelf.

   I came from a C background and was amazed how quickly the author was able to put the pieces of the puzzle together for me.

   While she skipped over large areas and didn't cloud issues with obnoxious synonyms of the perl language I understood the basics enough that when I need that simple unanswered question I only need to look on the Net.

   I will be eternally grateful for E Castro and her marvellous book! Thank you.

2. The Average Perl Book

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, October 12th, 2005

   I bought this book as other visual quickstart books like 'PHP for the world wide web' and 'JavaScript' I have much enjoyed. Though this book was an utter disappointment, the person has no clue about html and the book is supposed to be incoperating perl with the world wide web.

   It made me wonder does the author think that we already know html, I know I already do, but not everybody does so if you are a beginner then you are totally stuck, as she does not include the documentation for the webs pages where you gather the data from.

   I like how the code is seperate from the main text as it is easier to find like that, but that is about all.

   So to sum it up, I think if you already know Perl and just want a reference book than this is fine for you, but if you are a beginer to Perl then you should consider some other book.

3. ...Say what now?

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, March 12th, 2004

   This is a confusing book. DOn't get me wrong, I'm no web programming rookie. I just wanted a book that would teach me PERL. And my uni course forced me to buy this one. It would be nice if the author used a PC or a Mac to do the screen shots with, and not a combination of both, but nevermind.

   I've gotten used to SAMS books. I've gotton used to just looking something up in a book, and the answer being on a page. This book makes you read the entire chapter if you want an answer.

   If you're a little more green than me, and want a book to work through that will make you a competent PERL programmer, buy this, and work through it. If you've got some basics down already, you might want to consider looking somewhere else for your PERL fix.

4. Above average for the usual trade off

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, November 12st, 2003

   The trouble with any book that tries to teach intermediate level programming from first principles, in any computer language, is that the author has to trade off between providing code examples, and explaining the theory behind what you are doing. This is no exception.

   This book follows in the lines of '???? for dummies' or 'Teach yourself ???? in 21 days', dropping the theory behind what you are doing and providing, in the words of the author, 'building blocks' - no more than glorified cut-and-paste (well, type verbatim) chunks of code that you can put together to create a useable Perl based application, which will probably be more than slightly larger, and require substantially more CPU power, than is actually needed.

   Bearing in mind the other 'learn it quick' books that are available, it proves to be somewhat better than the average - but that does not make it a 'good book' by any means. There is no mention of flow charts to be found, and the book could be compared to a guide telling you how to write a novel without planning it through first. What I find to be really disappointing, though, is the notable omission of many essential functions, such as generating random numbers, and the woefully inadequate chapter covering cookies.

   I am not slating this book in its entirety. If you want to learn Perl quickly, to create your own personal interactive website or your own small business site, it may well be ideal - the downside is that no matter how much practice you get, you will find yourself repeatedly referring to the book to copy code chunks, and you will probably never make it to the programming efficiency of a professional. Once you have mastered the basics, you may well be able to glean as much from downloading many of the freebie applications that are out there and dissecting them, as they are often complete, well structured and commented scripts. I would recommend everyauction (freely available from everyauction) for this purpose.

   Unfortunately, this book does not really explain what CGI actually is, and it could seriously be improved by the addition of a chapter covering CGI headers, a better comparison of the servers, and a better explanation of Linux file permissions. As the book is aimed at the complete beginner, a section covering the Alabanza control panel would also have been a worthwhile addition.

   What the book also fails to tell you, until page 20, is that you need to learn HTML *BEFORE* you learn Perl. I think this should have been mentioned in block letters on the cover.

5. Simple But Good Reference

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, April 12th, 2003

   This book was my first perl book. I had very little knowledge and found it covered the basics very well. I would advice you buy this book if you have a specific objective in mind, or already have a very basic knowledge of perl. It serves very well as a reference manual once you have grasped the basic concepts, and everything that is shown comes equipped with an easy to follow example.

   Certainly an excellent beginners book, but still useful for general reference one you know what you are doing!