CGI::Application vs CGI::Builder

leocharre has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I read up on CGI::Application maybe about a year ago- I thought it made sense and -tried- it out, sadly I just put it aside and 'rolled my own' framework in the end.

A few weeks ago I looked over one of these 'roll my own' cgi apps and I was horrified by the disgusting post apocalyptic nature of the work as a whole- The thing worked- and worked well- but the more I tried to figure out how- the more I felt like I was watching Nighmare on Elm Street on lsd. Everything was well documented- made sense piece by piece.. but the whole thing at once did not fit in my head.

I went and rewrote the whole thing in CGI::Application. And.. Now it's like a blooming rose. It's incredibly smooth- and a little discipline in a language that lets you get away with mass murder is actually ok. I actually enjoyed the restrictions.

I am very taken by CGI::Application- the thing looked so humble- but it's really doing a lot to keep my soldiers in line.

CGI::Builder has caught my attention. It was originally CGI::Application::Plus - but that later module is being deprecated (maintained for legacy). They have some major similarities- But I don't see a lot of comparison talk between the two of them in the documentation.

Does anybody here have a preference and why? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

update: CGI::Builder's author codes unexpected behaviour akin to spyware.

Comment on CGI::Application vs CGI::Builder

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Re: CGI::Application vs CGI::Builder by samtregar (Abbot) on Dec 21, 2006 at 17:09 UTC
One good reason to prefer CGI::Application is the community. CGI::App has a very friendly and helpful mailing-list and it seems like a new plugin is released every week. I can't speak directly to the community around CGI::Builder but I'd be surprised to find it was very large. The author wasn't exactly friendly on the CGI::App list when he was calling his module CGI::Application::Plus. -sam	[reply]
Re^2: CGI::Application vs CGI::Builder by merlyn (Sage) on Dec 21, 2006 at 19:17 UTC
Another reason to ignore CGI::Builder is that it's from DOMIZIO, the original "phone home" guy. Google for the history: it's quite illuminating. -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker	[reply]
Re^3: CGI::Application vs CGI::Builder by Corion (Patriarch) on Dec 21, 2006 at 19:21 UTC
I thought this was the original Phone Home Guy?	[reply]
Re^3: CGI::Application vs CGI::Builder by leocharre (Priest) on Dec 21, 2006 at 21:32 UTC
Wow. I thought perl authors were good.. I feel like I was just told the truth about Santa Claus.. I thought someone doing this kind of thing would get banned off the face of the earth by the community.	[reply]
Re^4: CGI::Application vs CGI::Builder by f00li5h (Chaplain) on Dec 22, 2006 at 07:29 UTC
Re^3: CGI::Application vs CGI::Builder by cLive ;-) (Prior) on Dec 21, 2006 at 20:52 UTC
That reads a little harsh - or is it just me? I read the thread I found about it, and apart from a little naivety, I don't see what's so bad with that. After all, we all make mistakes (wink, wink). I'm sure you would say, "well yes, but I meant no harm", to which I would say "Touché" :) (note: NOT meaning to offend here - just make the point that sometimes people with the best intentions can do things that do not appear that way).	[reply]
Re: CGI::Application vs CGI::Builder by derby (Abbot) on Dec 21, 2006 at 19:50 UTC
This has come up before: CGI::Application vs CGI::Builder -derby	[reply]