Re: I have a lot of problems w/ my scripts, but this may be the biggie. Please read

I have not heard of that book or that author, which is a really bad sign for its quality. (There are a lot of Perl books out there. Most are written by incompetent people.)

Even worse signs are the phrases "Perl 5" and "web programming". I usually take both as danger signs of books written more to hit the right buzzwords than to teach anything useful.

The fact that its name sounds like it might be the same book specifically mentioned by redmist in (redmist) RE: Essential Perl 5 for Web Professionals as a really bad book is an even more ominous sign.

Your comment that you are using its code for reading forms suggests very strongly that the book rolls its own code for processing CGI. This is sure-fire test that tells you it is complete and utter crap whose only redeeming quality is that you can entertain yourself destroying it. (Please do not succumb to the temptation to recoup your losses by selling it to some other unsuspecting soul who can be damaged by it.)

Comment on Re: I have a lot of problems w/ my scripts, but this may be the biggie. Please read

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(Ovid) Re(2): I have a lot of problems w/ my scripts, but this may be the biggie. Please read by Ovid (Cardinal) on Jan 07, 2001 at 11:09 UTC
This book is available on Amazon (but I don't shop at Amazon). However, I have concerns about it. From the Amazon site: *From the Publisher* With a review by Tom Christiansen, one of the original Perl founders, this is one of the most comprehensive books on the market, covering Perl OOP structure, socket programming, HTML conversions, building Internet search utilities, and more! - Focuses heavily on the Windows NT version of Perl Offhand, that almost seems reasonable, but I noticed that it didn't explicitly state that Tom Christiansen wrote what's mentioned. I suppose I'm just being cynical. Reading through the reviews is not reassuring. They talk about the book being "confusing" and the general opinion seems to be that it's a decent book, but tough to follow. Of course, the reviews for Elizabeth Castro's pitiful excuse for a CGI book are pretty glowing, so I take them with a grain of salt. You can compare them to my dissenting viewpoint. The major thing that gives me pause it the mention by one reader that the book was published in 1996. I currently have CGI Programming with Perl (2nd edition), but I also have the first edition of that work. They are very, very far apart in terms of quality. The first edition often ignores many of the things we take for granted: strict, taint checking, CGI.pm, etc. Older books on Internet programming, while they may have been "decent" for their time, are generally to be avoided. Of course, who's going to listen to me after my major brain cramp on this post? :) Cheers, Ovid Join the Perlmonks Setiathome Group or just click on the the link and check out our stats.	[reply]

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(Ovid) Re(2): I have a lot of problems w/ my scripts, but this may be the biggie. Please read
by Ovid (Cardinal) on Jan 07, 2001 at 11:09 UTC

available on Amazon

I don't shop at Amazon

From the Publisher
With a review by Tom Christiansen, one of the original Perl founders, this is one of the most comprehensive books on the market, covering Perl OOP structure, socket programming, HTML conversions, building Internet search utilities, and more! - Focuses heavily on the Windows NT version of Perl

Reading through the reviews is not reassuring. They talk about the book being "confusing" and the general opinion seems to be that it's a decent book, but tough to follow. Of course, the reviews for Elizabeth Castro's pitiful excuse for a CGI book are pretty glowing, so I take them with a grain of salt. You can compare them to my dissenting viewpoint.

The major thing that gives me pause it the mention by one reader that the book was published in 1996. I currently have CGI Programming with Perl (2nd edition), but I also have the first edition of that work. They are very, very far apart in terms of quality. The first edition often ignores many of the things we take for granted: strict, taint checking, CGI.pm, etc. Older books on Internet programming, while they may have been "decent" for their time, are generally to be avoided.

Of course, who's going to listen to me after my major brain cramp on this post? :)

Cheers,
Ovid

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