PERL Programming

Sample Programs

First, look at a few sample programs.

• postquery: a  program that simply returns the data submitted via a form:
• order1: a program that processes an order for products
• order2: order1 + verification of customer

Perl Basics

Perl is a programming language that is well suited for processing form data, and is the most commonly used language for web-based applications. (This may change in the near future, however, with the movement towards tghe Windows platform and the increased availability of  graphical development tools).  Fundamental concepts include:

• Variable types
• Parsing the Input String
• Processing the Data
• Generating Output
• File Operations
• E-Mail Operations

Writing Perl Scripts

Writing CGI (or any other type of) programs involves planning, coding, testing, and implementation. The following are some very brief comments/tips regarding coding, testing and implementation of CGI scripts using perl. It is not meant as a guide to programming; nor is it a discussion of good programming principles. Refer to any standard programming textbook for details on  the programming process.

A number of exercises, that follow the patter of the material in this section are provided.

Writing PERL programs involves the following steps:

• Coding
• Testing
• Implementation

References

• GNU Perl 5 Referemce Manual
• Another perl reference manual
• The PERL language home page
• CGI.PM library
• Perl resources and reviews
• The cgi-lib.pl Home page
• Matt Wright's perl Script Archive