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Part 7: Databases
Part 7: Databases
In recent years, Perl has become an increasingly popular tool for database administrators—particularly those who can’t afford to have their programs work with only one database system. The reason is Perl’s Database Interface, or DBI. This section features three DBI articles, beginning with an article by DBI creator Tim Bunce and guru Alligator Descartes (both authors of O’Reilly’s Programming the Perl DBI), who introduce DBI.
From there, Craig McElwee demonstrates how to use DBI with Microsoft Access, and Thomas Akin shows pitfalls that sometimes trip novices up when learning DBI. Next, Terrence Brannon stirs the pot with an article arguing that DBI isn’t ideal for all database applications, expounding the virtues of his DBIx::Recordset alternative. Joe Casadonte then shows how to use the Win32::ODBC module to manipulate ODBC databases in Win32::ODBC; Tim Bunce pops in at the end of the article with a counterpoint comparing and contrasting Win32::ODBC to DBI.
Next, Joe Johnston shows how to use the Net::LDAP module to manipulate Light-weight Directory Access Protocol servers, which contain hierarchies of frequently-accessed but infrequently-updated information, such as address books. Lincoln Stein returns with an article on how the Human Genome Project uses web-enabled databases, and John McNamara closes out the section with an article showing how to create Excel files from Perl (and some tips for reading them, too).
