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Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Perl
   • What is Perl?
     • Origins
     • Similar to C?
     • Cost and Licensing
   • Installing Perl Installed
     • Getting and Installing Perl
   • Writing Perl Programs
     • Creating the Program
     • Invocation
     • Comments in Your Program
   • Further Reading/Information
2. Numeric and String Literals
   • Numeric Literals
   • String Literals
     • Example: Double-Quoted Strings
3. Variables
   • Scalar Variables
     • Defining Scalar Variables
     • String Scalar Variables
4. Arrays
   • What is an Array?
   • Literal Arrays
   • Indexed Arrays
   • Some Useful Array Functions
   • Associative Arrays
     • Associative Array Operators
5. Operators
   • The Binary Arithmetic Operators
   • The Unary Arithmetic Operators
   • The Logical Operators
   • The Bitwise Operators
     • Comparison operators for numbers and strings
   • The Range Operator (..)
   • The String Operators (. and x)
   • Order of Precedence
6. Perl Statements
   • Understanding Expressions
   • Statement Blocks
   • Statement Blocks and Local Variables
   • If/Unless statement
     • The for statement
     • The while/until statement
     • The foreach statement
7. Functions
   • Using the Parameter Array (@_)
   • Passing Parameters by Reference
   • Scope of Variables
   • Using a List as a Function Parameter
   • Nesting Function Calls
   • Using a Private Function
   • String Functions
   • Array Functions
   • Summary
8. References
   • Reference Types
   • Passing Parameters to Functions
   • The ref() Function
   • Example: Creating a Data Record
   • Interpolating Functions Inside Double-Quoted Strings
   • Summary
9. Files -- Input and Output in Perl
   • Some Files Are Standard
     • Using the Diamond Operator (<>)
   • File Test Operators
   • File Functions
     • Reading Directories
     • Reading and Writing Files
     • Binary Files
     • Getting File Statistics
     • Printing Revisited
10. Regular Expressions
    • What are regular Expressions
    • Using Regular Expressions
      • Special pattern matching character operators
    • Backtracking
    • Setting the Target Operator (Binding)
    • Substitution
    • The Matching Operator (m//)
      • The Matching Options
    • The Translation Operator (tr///)
      • The Translation Options
    • The Binding Operators
    • Character Classes
    • Quantifiers
    • Pattern Memory
    • Pattern Precedence
    • Extension Syntax
    • Pattern Examples
    • Some Practical Examples
      • Using the Match Operator
      • Using the Substitution Operator
      • Example: Using the Translation Operator
      • Example: Using the Split() Function
11. Reports
    • Format Statements
    • Field Lines
    • Report Headings
12. Special Variables
    • What Are the Special Variables?
    • Example: Using the DATA File Handle
    • Example: Using the %ENV Variable
13. Handling Errors and Signals
    • Checking for Errors
    • Using errno
    • Using the || Logical Operator
    • Using the die() Function
    • Using the warn() Function
    • Trapping Fatal Errors
      • Using the eval() Function
    • Signals
      • How to Handle a Signal
14. Objects in Perl
    • What are objects?
    • Classes
    • Abtraction
    • Polymorphism:Overriding Methods
    • Encapsulation:Keeping Code and Data Together
    • Objects in Perl
      • Bless the Hash and Pass the Reference
      • Initializing Properties
      • Using Named Parameters in Constructors
      • Inheritance: Perl Style
      • Polymorphism
      • One Class Can Contain Another
    • Static Versus Regular Methods and Variables
15. Perl Modules
    • Module Constructors and Destructors
      • The BEGIN Block
      • The END Block
    • Symbol Tables
    • The require Compiler Directive
    • The use Compiler Directive
    • Pragma in Perl
    • The strict Pragma
    • The Standard Modules
    • strict, my() and Modules
    • Module Examples
      • The Carp Module
      • The English Module
      • The Env Module
16. Debugging Perl
    • Syntax Errors
    • Common Syntax Errors
    • Logic Errors
      • Using the -w Command-Line Option
      • Being Strict with Your Variables
      • Stepping Through Your Script
        • Displaying Information
        • Using Breakpoints
      • Creating Command Aliases
      • Using the Debugger as an Interactive Interpreter
    • Summary
17. Perl Command-Line Options
    • How Are the Options Specified?
    • The Command-line Options
    • Example uses of command-line options
      • Using the -0 Option
      • Using the -n and -p Options
      • Using the -i Option
      • Using the -s Option
    • Summary
18. Networking with Perl
    • Sockets
    • Clients and Servers
      • The Server Side of a Conversation
      • The Client Side of a Conversation
    • Some Network Examples
      • Using the Time Service
      • Sending Mail (SMTP)
        • The MAIL Command
        • The RCPT Command
        • The DATA Command
        • Reporting Undeliverable Mail
        • Using Perl to Send Mail
    • Receiving Mail (POP)
      • Checking for Upness (Echo)
    • Transferring Files (FTP)
      • The World Wide Web (HTTP)
19. CGI Programming in Perl
    • CGI Scripting
      • What is a CGI Script?
      • Writing and Running CGI Scripts
      • Why Use Perl for CGI?
      • CGI Apps versus Java Applets
      • Should You Use CGI Modules?
    • How Does CGI Work?
    • Calling Your CGI Program
    • Beginning CGI Programming in Perl
      • CGI Script Output
      • A First Perl CGI Script
      • Exectiion of CGI Programs
      • Why Are File Permissions Important in UNIX?
    • HTTP Headers
      • CGI and Environment Variables
    • URL Encoding
    • Security
      • CGIwrap and Security
20. The Other Side of CGI:Input -- HTML Forms
    • A Brief Overview of HTML
    • Server-Side Includes
    • Forms: Facilitating User Input and Interaction
      • Forms and CGI: What are they?
      • Some Example Forms
      • The FORM Tag
      • Entering Data
        • The Submit Button
        • Text Input
      • Password
      • Associating labels with text and password input
      • Radio Buttons
      • Checkboxes
      • Assigning Initial Input Values to
      • Select
      • Textarea
      • Hidden Input
      • An Example Form
      • HTML Forms as an Interface to Databases
      • Further Information
    • CGI Script Input: Accepting Input To Perl Scripts
      • Accepting Input from the Browser
      • Passing Data to a CGI Script
      • A Simple Form CGI Script Call
      • The Other Side -- receiving and processing information in CGI ( Perl) script
      • cgi-lib.pl
      • The cgi.pm module
      • A Minimal Form Response CGI Perl Script
      • Multiple argument input to a Perl CGI script
21. Some Example Perl CGI Scripts
    • Red, Green and Blue to Hexadecimal Converter
    • An Address Book Search Engine
    • Creating a Guest Book
    • A Web Page Counter
22. Using Perl with Web Servers
    • Server Log Files
    • Reading a Log File In Perl
    • Listing Access by Document
    • Looking at the Status Code
    • Existing Log File Analyzing Programs
    • Creating Your Own CGI Log File
23. Internet Resources
    • Web Sites
    • Usenet Newsgroups
24. A Quick Quide to HTML
    • Basic HTML Programming
      • HTML
      • Hypertext Terminology
      • Creating HTML Documents
      • Learning HTML
      • Anatomy of Any HTML Document
      • HTML Tags
        • Basic HTML Page Structure
      • Summary of Basic HTML Tags
      • Bare-bones example of HTML
      • Basic HTML Coding
        • Head elements
      • The Body Element
      • Headings
      • Paragraphs
      • Comments
      • Links and Anchors
        • Linking to Other Documents
      • Relative, Absolute and remote Links
        • Anchors
      • Lists
        • Unordered or Bulleted lists
        • Ordered or Numbered lists
        • Glossary or Definition Lists
        • Nesting Lists
      • Preformatted Text
      • In-Line Images
      • External Images, Sounds, Video
      • Things to remember when HTML programming
    • Text Formatting with HTML
      • Logical Character Formatting
      • Physical Character formatting
      • Special Characters
      • Horizontal rules and Line breaks
      • Fonts and Font Sizes
    • Recommended Reading

About this Course

This is a complete set of detailed class notes for classes in Perl programming.

Major portions of this tutorial are provided by Dave Marshall, Senior Lecturer in the Cardiff School of Computer Science.