These days, it's fashionable to embed Perl, PHP, Python or Rails within a web framework if you want to put your application code online - in other words, if you want to take logic that's tried and tested and make it web available. And there's much to be said for this fashion - it provides a whole series of facilities and security checks which you don't have to keep re-coding yourself. If you're writing substantial systems, I'll encourage you to use such a framework, and indeed I'll introduce to you Django or Rails as an extra day on the end of your Python or Ruby course.

BUT ... if you just want to add a simple, one-page script onto your web site, there's still a lot to be said for KISS - "Keep It Simple, Stupid" - and that can be achieved through the Perl and the Common Gateway Interface.

On last week's Perl course, I wrote a complete CGI example that looks up data from within a large data file - a simple, single page filtering application. It's robust, secure, easy to use and it doesn't use any of the complicated day-to-even-start frameworks. Source code [here]; data file [here].
(written 2012-09-30, updated 2012-10-13)

 P221 - Perl on the Web
  [433] FTP - how to make the right transfers - (2005-09-01)
  [493] Running a Perl script within a PHP page - (2005-11-12)
  [590] Danny and Donna are getting married - (2006-02-03)
  [641] Simple but rugged form handling demo - (2006-03-10)
  [662] An unhelpful error message from Apache httpd - (2006-03-30)
  [687] Presentation, Business and Persistence layers in Perl and PHP - (2006-04-17)
  [975] Answering ALL the delegate's Perl questions - (2006-12-09)
  [1198] From Web to Web 2 - (2007-05-21)
  [2551] Perl and the Common Gateway Interface - out of fashion but still very useful? - (2009-12-26)

Back to Using Perl to read an RSS feed off a web site and extract data - via LWP and XML modules

Previous and next or Horse's mouth home

Forward to October to December 2012 - Public Courses

Mixed mode travel - Information systems
From Structured to Object Oriented Programming.
Public Transport Services - from and to Melksham
October to December 2012 - Public Courses
Using CGI and Perl to put a simple application online. Sometimes still the best way.
Using Perl to read an RSS feed off a web site and extract data - via LWP and XML modules
Henbury loop, Bristol - a freight railway line with passenger potential?
Trains across Wiltshire - an update on the TransWilts
On getting noticed for the right reasons when you ask about job availability
Writing more maintainable Perl - naming fields from your data records