MySQL and Perl for the Web

Buy It! Author:  Paul DuBois ISBN:  0735710546 Price:  $44.99 US Pages:  500 Pub:  New Riders

Many books already address Web site construction and database integration with the Web. There are also plenty of books on Perl programming, including one specifically covering the DBI module, that show how to access databases from Perl. Why one more, and why focus on MySQL?

The answer is actually quite simple. Despite its usefulness, the combination of Perl and MySQL for Web programming has been strangely overlooked. In the Open Source community, for instance, the two most popular Web scripting languages are Perl and PHP. But although Perl has been around longer than PHP, for some reason most MySQL Web coverage has focused on the PHP interface to MySQL. There is relatively little treatment of Perl MySQL applications, even though Perl is just as important. Go into any bookstore and have a look at the many Perl books. Most of them touch on the Web and databases either not at all or devote only a few paragraphs or pages to the topic. Of these, the number that address MySQL is fewer yet. This is unfortunate, because one of MySQL's strengths is its applicability to Web programming.

Who is this book for?

In general, this book should be of value to anyone who wants to build a Web site, or to make an existing site more interactive, more responsive to visitors in terms of adapting to what they're looking for, and always up to date by drawing on the information currently in a database. This includes individuals, low-budget organizations, businesses both small and large, and academic or government institutions.

Book Excerpts

• Chapter 3: Improving Performance with mod_perl