While I'm certainly not the perl hacker that boo_radley is, my experience with CGI::Application has been nothing but good. The fact that it necessitates using good coding style (OOP, avoidance of globals, etc.) and integrates tightly with HTML::Template is certainly a boon, and the fact that it works beautifully with mod_perl.

I must admit that CGI::Application is really where I cut my OOP teeth, and I must say I think it was a good way to start.

CGI::Application doesn't do anything you couldn't do yourself, per se, but I find the way it makes me think about application development to be invaluable- centralize code that should be, keep HTML out of perl, and think of your application as discreet pieces (runmodes). Also, a CGI::Application module is very readable, and hopefully maintainable down the road.

One last thing- the mailing maintained by Jesse Erlbaum is very responsive, and Jesse responds to issues quickly, without trying to make CGI::Application a bloated, unfocused mess.

CGI::Application rocks. Try it out for a smallish project, and see what you think. I'm using it for both smallish and largish projects, and it's been great for both.

-Any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from doubletalk.