Preface Perl Template Toolkit is an introduction to the Template Toolkit. The Template Toolkit is most often used in the creation of web sites, but it can be used as a general text manipulation tool. It is a presentation management system that allows you to separate aspects of presentation from the rest of an application, in the same way that a database allows you to separate storage concerns. The information in this book is based on Version 2.10 of the Template Toolkit, released in July 2003. The Template Toolkit will continue to evolve. Apart from bug fixes and minor updates, the Version 2.* branch will remain pretty much the same as it is now. Version 3, expected sometime in 2004, will include new features and some changes to the internal architecture. However, it is an important requirement that new versions of the Template Toolkit are backward-compatible with previous versions wherever pos- sible. Although the Template Toolkit may change in some subtle ways, the basic prin- ciples, syntax, and style are here to stay. Audience This book should be useful to anyone building and maintaining web sites or other complex content systems. No prior knowledge of Perl, the Template Toolkit, or HTML is required to apply the basic techniques taught in this book. Some of the more advanced topics require some degree of familiarity with the Perl programming language. Readers who understand the basic language constructs and idioms of Perl and who already know how to install and use Perl modules will have no trouble integrating the Template Toolkit into their existing or new projects. Some chapters talk about more specific application areas: HTML, web programming, XML, and SQL, for example. Experience in these areas will make the benefits of the Template Toolkit more readily apparent, but isn't required. About this Book This book is divided into 12 chapters and 1 appendix. xv