| Overview
One of the greatest strengths of the Perl programming language is
its ability to manipulate large amounts of data. Database
programming is therefore a natural fit for Perl, not only for
business applications but also for CGI-based web and intranet
applications. The primary interface for database programming in
Perl is DBI. DBI is a database-independent package that provides a
consistent set of routines regardless of what database product you
use--Oracle, Sybase, Ingres, Informix, you name it. The design of
DBI is to separate the actual database drivers (DBDs) from the
programmer's API, so any DBI program can work with any database, or
even with multiple databases by different vendors simultaneously.
Programming the Perl DBI is coauthored by Alligator
Descartes, one of the most active members of the DBI community, and
by Tim Bunce, the inventor of DBI. For the uninitiated, the book
explains the architecture of DBI and shows you how to write
DBI-based programs. For the experienced DBI dabbler, this book
reveals DBI's nuances and the peculiarities of each individual DBD.
The book includes:
An introduction to DBI and its design How to construct queries and bind parameters Working with database, driver, and statement
handles Debugging techniques Coverage of each existing DBD A complete reference to DBI
This is the definitive book for database programming in Perl.
Editorial ReviewsProduct DescriptionThe primary interface for database programming in Perl is DBI, a database-independent package that provides a consistent set of routines regardless of what database product you use--Oracle, Sybase, Ingres, Informix, you name it.Programming the Perl DBI is coauthored by Alligator Descartes, one of the most active members of the DBI community, and by Tim Bunce, the inventor of DBI. For the uninitiated, the book explains the architecture of DBI and shows you how to write DBI-based programs. For the experienced DBI dabbler, this book explains DBI's nuances and the peculiarities of each individual DBD. This is the definitive book for database programming in Perl. | Amazon.com ReviewThe birth of new modules for the Perl scripting language is a regular occurrence, and the publication of an O'Reilly book about one of these modules is a sign of coming of age. Perl's DBI module, which facilitates the database-independent operation of Perl, achieves its rite of passage this month with the arrival of Alligator Descartes and Tim Bunce's excellent Programming Perl's DBI. Perl's DBI interface is maintained by Bunce and includes submodule interfaces to Oracle, MySQL, Sybase, Microsoft ODBC, and many other smaller databases. O'Reilly Perl book aficionados take note: this is the cheetah book, named for the animal that graces its cover. Far from being a formalized how-to or man page, Programming Perl's DBI is a mini textbook in database programming, ideal for CPAN-savvy Perl programmers with little or no experience in database programming. Descartes and Bunce develop primitive notions of databases by using flat files, and they introduce relational databases with careful didactic motivation. The example database used throughout the book contains ancient sacred monolithic sites in the UK and elsewhere, of which Stonehenge is the most famous. Readers will learn about these primitive places while storing, updating, deleting, sorting, and locking their descriptors using flat files, nonrelational and relational databases, and a tutorial on SQL. The last chapters describe the peculiarities of interacting with ODBC and introduce DBI's Perl-less diagnostic shell and database proxying. The authors use many modules--including DBI itself--that are not part of the vanilla Perl distribution, and Descartes and Bunce introduce them without explaining where to find or build them. Perl newbies with no CPAN experience may find themselves derailed early. The Storage module seems not to be available on CPAN at all (at the time of this writing). Fortunately, DBI and friends build, test, and install seamlessly under Linux/Red Hat 6.1. At 350 pages, Programming the Perl DBI is 60 percent text--filled with highly annotated Perl code--and 40 percent appendices covering a detailed specification of DBI and 3-to-5-page descriptions of each of the 14 supported databases. Brevity is a large component of this book's wit. Clarity is the rest of it. --Peter Leopold |
Other Readers Also Read | Top Sellers in This Category | Browse Similar Topics | | | Top Level Categories:Sub-Categories: | | | | |
Reader Reviews From Amazon (Ranked by 'Helpfulness') Average Customer Rating: based on 48 reviews. The standard for Peral Database Programming, 2007-01-18 Reviewer rating: If you are serious about using Perl to interface with any database, then this is the only book will will ever need. Amazon was the only place I could find a copy, since the book is currently out-of-print. | pretty good book, but so is the CPAN documentation, 2004-09-27 Reviewer rating: This is a (the definitive) book on Perl DBI. I swapped book-for-book with a former co-worker for this. I keep it in the office for the newbies.
If you're already a pro at PERL, you should be able to get by with just the CPAN documentation. However, if your employer is footing the bill, get it. :-)
However if you're new to PERL and need to use DBI, get it.
Very nice tips and tricks you can pick up, even a few for the pros. | An alright book for the DBI beginner, 2004-07-28 Reviewer rating: The database-oriented view of programming has become increasingly popular, and it is of great importance for all serious programmers to understand how to use their favorite language to manipulate the database systems. With the variety of database systems out there, it can be a real challenge to learn what there is to know. For the Perl programmer, however, there is this book on the matter, and it will probably be all you'll need to get started working with database programming in no time. Other reviewers have stated that this is a regurgitation of the docs. This is partially true. But the docs are very bland, and this book presents the information in a much more informative, and easy to read manner. With it, you can begin programming the DBI within a week (a day if you already know SQL and skip the chapter on the Berkley DB system). Recommended for anyone interested in learning how to use Databases with Perl. If you already know the DBI, the book wont be of much help, maybe as a reference, but I'd only pick it up if you don't know it, or are still inexperienced at it. | still a valuable reference for multiple databases, 2003-09-06 Reviewer rating: This book has been a valuable reference of mine for several years for web database programming projects. I bought the book soon after it was released and continue to use it - sometimes on a daily basis depending upon the project I am currently developing. I realized from the beginning that much of the material in this book came from the online documentation and have still found the book to be useful enough to stay on my A-list of reference materials. Applications like CGIScripter need to utilize up to half a dozen different databases so I have found the reference section on each database be the section I often turn to first. I have not found this info available anywhere in the online documentation. When you program and debug on multiple computers with multiple windows open simultaneously, having a reference book is often more manageable than opening another window on the computer. And for those times when I am struggling with an especially troublesome programming issue, I have found it very helpful to sit in my easy chair with a reference book like the Perl DBI book in order to research the problem. The only reason I am not giving the book 5 stars is that it hasn't been updated in a few years so it doesn't include info on some of the new DBI supported databases like SQLite. | Good book for what it is., 2003-05-11 Reviewer rating: It's hard to imagine an entire book about this. It's not bad, for what it is though. If you have any database knowledge and read the appropriate sections already in Programming Perl or the Perl Cookbook, I don't imagine you'll get too much use from this. |
Some information above was provided using data from Amazon.com. View at Amazon > |
| |
|
|
