reviews/web_dev_apache_n_perl.xml
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<page title="Web Development with Apache and Perl" keywords="">
<item>
<p>Author: Theo Petersen</p>
<p>ISBN: <isbn>1-930110-06-5</isbn></p>
<p>Publisher: Manning</p>
<p>Reviewed by: Dave Cross</p>
</item><item>
<p>
In the dim and distant past when I first started doing web development,
there was a book that everybody had a copy of. It was called How to Set Up
and Maintain a Web Site and it was by Lincoln Stein. The reason why everyone
owned (and, more importantly, read) it was that it contained a complete
high-level snapshot of everything you needed to know in order to run a web
site at that time. Unfortunately, after a second edition in 1997 the book
hasn't been updated. I suppose that the subject area has grown so much that
no-one thought that a complete overview would be too high-level to be
useful. They were probably right.
</p><p>
I mention Stein's book because that's what this new book reminded me of most
(that, by the way, is a huge compliment). Petersen realises that an overview
of the whole web development area would be difficult to write (and,
ultimately, unhelpful) so he restricts himself to a subset of the available
technologies - Perl and Apache - and gives a thorough review of the state of
the art of web development in these areas.
</p><p>
But before he gets into the details of Apache and Perl, in chapter 1
Petersen takes a look at the wider world of Open Source Software and in the
process presents one of the best arguments I've seen in print for why a
company should choose Open Source Software. In chapters 2 and 3 he takes the
same approach with web servers and scripting languages, giving compelling
reasons for choosing Apache and Perl.
</p><p>
Having chosen his architecture, in part 2, Petersen moves on to looking at
some common tools for web development. Chapter 4 looks at databases. The two
main Open Source Databases (MySQL and PostgreSQL) are compared and MySQL is
chosen as the basis for the rest of the examples. Chapter 5 discusses the
shortcomings of the standard CGI architecture and introduces mod_perl as an
alternative. This is a good introduction to a technology that some people
can find hard to get to grips with. Petersen takes us through the use of
Apache::Registry before moving on to the complexity and power of mod_perl
handlers.
</p><p>
Chapter 6 looks at the importance of security in web applications and
discusses in some depth the problems of user authentication and the use of
SSL for secure data transmission. Chapter 7 looks at ways to separate
content from presentation. First we look briefly at server-side includes,
but the majority of the chapter is taken up with a review of the various
templating systems that are available for Perl. The chapter finishes with a
detailed look at two of the most popular templating solutions - HTML::Mason
and Template Toolkit.
</p><p>
Part 3 of the book looks at three different types of web site in great
detail. In each case Petersen uses the examples to take a brief survey of a
number of the existing tools. For example chapter 9 looks at a community web
site and contains information about a number of web-based forums and chat
rooms. It also takes an extended look at Slashcode the software that runs
Slashdot. Chapter 9 takes a similar approach for intranet sites and Chapter
10 for online stores.
</p><p>
In part 4 we take a longer term view of a web site. Chapter 11 looks at
content management systems and chapter 12 lookat at performance tuning. Both
of these chapters are full of useful advice on how to make running a web
server as painless as possible.
</p><p>
I think this is a very useful book to have on your bookshelf. Anyone who is
developing web applications using Apache and Perl will find something useful
in the book. It should be obvious that in order for a single book to cover
so much ground, sometimes there isn't quite as much technical detail as you
might like, but there is a good bibliography that will show you where to go
for more information. In my opinion the high-level approach makes the book
particularly useful for a couple of groups of potential readers. Firstly I
think it makes a great introduction to the subject for someone coming to
Apache and Perl for the first time. Secondly (and perhaps most importantly)
I can see the book (in particular the first three chapters) being very
useful reading material for a manager who is making a decision between using
Open Source Software or some proprietary technology.
</p><p>
</p>
</item>
</page>
reviews/web_dev_apache_n_perl.xml
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<page title="Web Development with Apache and Perl" keywords="">
<item>
<p>Author: Theo Petersen</p>
<p>ISBN: <isbn>1-930110-06-5</isbn></p>
<p>Publisher: Manning</p>
<p>Reviewed by: Dave Cross</p>
</item><item>
<p>
In the dim and distant past when I first started doing web development,
there was a book that everybody had a copy of. It was called How to Set Up
and Maintain a Web Site and it was by Lincoln Stein. The reason why everyone
owned (and, more importantly, read) it was that it contained a complete
high-level snapshot of everything you needed to know in order to run a web
site at that time. Unfortunately, after a second edition in 1997 the book
hasn't been updated. I suppose that the subject area has grown so much that
no-one thought that a complete overview would be too high-level to be
useful. They were probably right.
</p><p>
I mention Stein's book because that's what this new book reminded me of most
(that, by the way, is a huge compliment). Petersen realises that an overview
of the whole web development area would be difficult to write (and,
ultimately, unhelpful) so he restricts himself to a subset of the available
technologies - Perl and Apache - and gives a thorough review of the state of
the art of web development in these areas.
</p><p>
But before he gets into the details of Apache and Perl, in chapter 1
Petersen takes a look at the wider world of Open Source Software and in the
process presents one of the best arguments I've seen in print for why a
company should choose Open Source Software. In chapters 2 and 3 he takes the
same approach with web servers and scripting languages, giving compelling
reasons for choosing Apache and Perl.
</p><p>
Having chosen his architecture, in part 2, Petersen moves on to looking at
some common tools for web development. Chapter 4 looks at databases. The two
main Open Source Databases (MySQL and PostgreSQL) are compared and MySQL is
chosen as the basis for the rest of the examples. Chapter 5 discusses the
shortcomings of the standard CGI architecture and introduces mod_perl as an
alternative. This is a good introduction to a technology that some people
can find hard to get to grips with. Petersen takes us through the use of
Apache::Registry before moving on to the complexity and power of mod_perl
handlers.
</p><p>
Chapter 6 looks at the importance of security in web applications and
discusses in some depth the problems of user authentication and the use of
SSL for secure data transmission. Chapter 7 looks at ways to separate
content from presentation. First we look briefly at server-side includes,
but the majority of the chapter is taken up with a review of the various
templating systems that are available for Perl. The chapter finishes with a
detailed look at two of the most popular templating solutions - HTML::Mason
and Template Toolkit.
</p><p>
Part 3 of the book looks at three different types of web site in great
detail. In each case Petersen uses the examples to take a brief survey of a
number of the existing tools. For example chapter 9 looks at a community web
site and contains information about a number of web-based forums and chat
rooms. It also takes an extended look at Slashcode the software that runs
Slashdot. Chapter 9 takes a similar approach for intranet sites and Chapter
10 for online stores.
</p><p>
In part 4 we take a longer term view of a web site. Chapter 11 looks at
content management systems and chapter 12 lookat at performance tuning. Both
of these chapters are full of useful advice on how to make running a web
server as painless as possible.
</p><p>
I think this is a very useful book to have on your bookshelf. Anyone who is
developing web applications using Apache and Perl will find something useful
in the book. It should be obvious that in order for a single book to cover
so much ground, sometimes there isn't quite as much technical detail as you
might like, but there is a good bibliography that will show you where to go
for more information. In my opinion the high-level approach makes the book
particularly useful for a couple of groups of potential readers. Firstly I
think it makes a great introduction to the subject for someone coming to
Apache and Perl for the first time. Secondly (and perhaps most importantly)
I can see the book (in particular the first three chapters) being very
useful reading material for a manager who is making a decision between using
Open Source Software or some proprietary technology.
</p><p>
</p>
</item>
</page>