or better yet, use a wrapper like Class::DBI

Don't forget DBIx::Class, which IMHO surpassed Class::DBI in just about every way about a year ago.

In response to the OP, you may also want to look at Catalyst. From your posts so far, it appears as if you're building web applications. Using a framework like Catalyst (along with Template Toolkit and DBIx::Class) will encourage you to keep your application, database and presentation logic separate (which will save you a lot of pain in the long run).