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JavaScript Application Cookbook
book

JavaScript Application Cookbook

by Jerry Bradenbaugh
October 1999
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
480 pages
14h 47m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from JavaScript Application Cookbook

Appendix C. Using Perl Scripts

This appendix contains four sections:

  1. A Perl/CGI Overview

  2. Getting Perl

  3. The Shopping Bag Script—bag.pl

  4. The CyberGreeting Script—greet.pl

The first section contains a little background on Perl and mentions some of its advantages. The next section tells you where to download Perl, giving you several choices depending on your operating system. The last two sections explain how the Perl scripts in Chapter 8, and Chapter 10, work.

A Perl/CGI Overview

The acronym stands for Practical Extraction and Report Language. It was originally designed for text and file manipulation, but also does well for managing system tasks and creating dynamic content for the Web. Perl has its roots in programming languages, such as C, sed, awk, and sh.

What’s So Good About Perl?

Perl is popular for a number of reasons. As far as languages go, Perl is pretty easy to learn. It is extremely powerful. It is used in just about every kind of programming scenario imaginable. Here are some of the many ways Perl is used:

  • For dynamic web page content

  • In CGI scripts for countless web apps

  • To access databases

  • For building search engines and web robots

  • For password protection and other encryption

  • For system administration, site logging, and scheduled tasks

  • For networking tasks and other scripting

  • For chat servers and message boards

Perl is quickly finding its way into many other arenas. You can use Perl:

  • To extend Java, C, VisualBasic, Delphi, and other code

  • In XML (Extensible Markup Language) applications ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 1565925777Supplemental ContentOtherErrata Page