my $dbname   = 'production';
my $username = 'code_monkey';
my $password = '!#@&*';

# You can also specify the database here instead of using the '$dbh->do("use $dbname");'
my $dbh_foo = DBI->connect("dbi:Sybase:server=Foo;database=$dbname",$username,$password );

# Here you can call a second one
my $dbh_bar = DBI->connect("dbi:Sybase:server=Bar;database=$dbname",$username,$password );

# You can even call a completely different RDBMS
my $dbh_baz = DBI->connect("dbi:Pg:host=baz;dbname=$dbname",$username,$password );

##</code><code>##

my $pet = '5" Stuffed Camel';
my $sql = 'SELECT id,name FROM users WHERE has_pet = ?'; 
# '?' signifies a placeholder

my $sth_sel = $dbh->prepare($sql);
$sth_sel->execute($pet);
# Now $pet is properly quoted

##</code><code>##

my $sql = 'SELECT id,name FROM users WHERE has_pet = ?';
my $sth_sel = $dbh->prepare($sql);
foreach my $pet (qw/ monkey bear tiger /) {
  $sth_sel->execute($pet);
}