I have to play the devil's advocate here :-)

If you're going to use DBI/DBD::??? to have perl interact with a database(whose "native" language is SQL), IMHO it's good(not bad) to actually know and use the SQL that your database uses. Again, IMHO, abstraction can be a good thing, but there is a limit - here's why I think using SQL in your code is good: 
   1. SQL is *NOT* that tough - if I can learn it and use 
      it, then anyone can.  And while some SQL(joins and
      there are more advanced topics that involve a 
      learning curve) can be more challenging to learn for
      newbies, the basics (SELECT, INSERT, DELETE) are very
      straightforward.
   2. Using Perl/DBI/DBD::?? to interact with a database 
      sort of assumes that you already have a working
      database, which kind of assumes that you already
      know how to interact with the database on its
      own(without Perl/DBI/DBD::??).  To do that, you
      should already have some familiarity with SQL, or
      you should learn SQL, at least enought to interact
      with your database through its "built in" client 
      interface.

[download]
My my 1st database project, I didn't know SQL, nor did I know the MySQL database that I used for that project. But here's what I did:

  * downloaded and installed MySQL
  * bought a book about MySQL(by Paul Dubois - excellent
    book) and read the online MySQL documentation, which is
    very good - I think it's at www.mysql.com(it's been a
    while - not sure about the address of that site)
  * learned enough SQL to be able to interact with MySQL
    using MySQL's client command line interface
  * installed DBI and DBD::mysql
  * read the excellent DBI perldocs by doing

       perldoc DBI

    at a command prompt

  * read the excellent DBD::mysql perldocs by doing

       perldoc DBD::mysql

    at a command prompt

  * bought the book "Programming the Perl DBI" by Tim Bunce
    and read it

  * wrote my 1st basic Perl/DBI/DBD::mysql application

[download]
It's been quite a while since I've read the DBI book, but I believe I remember that all the examples used straight SQL - there were no abstraction layers used like DBD::SQLite. Using these simple methods, I learned SQL and created my Perl/DBI/DBD::mysql using SQL, and you can too - it's really pretty easy.

So, my advice(just my humble opinion) is to just use SQL in your DBI applications - don't use an SQL abstraction like DBD::SQLite. Learning SQL will enable you to use any SQL database, since the SQL syntax is 95% the same between different SQL databases. Using DBD::SQLite means that you'll have to learn the syntax of DBD::SQLite, and then you'll be dependent on using that module for any database app you write. HTH.

In reply to Re: Re: To DBI or not to DBI by hmerrill
in thread To DBI or not to DBI by rzward

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