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in reply to Web Programming with Perl 5
Four short sentences isn't a review :)
What exactly does the book cover? What's its main focus? What are the strengths and weaknesses? How long is it? Who wrote it? When was it published? Who published it? Does it have an easy to read, conversational style or is it dry and boring? How good are the examples in the book? Does the example code use widely accepted programming practices? How does this compare to other Perl books? Why should I buy this over any other Perl book? Does the author contribute to the Perl community? Is he or she donating any of the proceeds to charity or Perl groups? etc.
I'd appreciate it if you could write a more detailed review of the book. Thanks :) |
Re: Web Programming with Perl 5
by Bismark (Scribe) on Jan 14, 2003 at 00:52 UTC
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My original post was several paragraphs long. It appears to have been chomped.
Published by Que in 1997, 384 pages long with CD-ROM
The book itself is divided into 16 chapters, all of which are simple, easy to understand, and concise and clear.
The book is used in several college courses that I know of. The code is exactly how Perl is meant to be. I can not compare it to other books that I do not have. I believe that is the purpose of the review list, so that you can make the comparisons yourself. I do not care if you buy it or not, unless you buy it from a site that gives the Monks a kickback. If you even looked at my first post you would have seen the authors' names and would know if it was a he or a she. Does he donate to charities!? Are you for real? How am I supposed to know what the author does with his money? And what business is it of yours? Or mine for that matter. I must admit it seems strange to be rebuked by someone who does not even post as a member.
This book will get readers quickly on the road to developing robust real-world applications. Various cutting-edge applications are presented. The book addresses the what, why and how behind each application in a very direct fashion so that programmers can begin producing applications immediately.
The book includes object-oriented programming in Perl, advanced CGI applications, security issues, databases, online forms, search engines, shopping carts, MIME documents and other topics. The book also references and makes use of CPAN.
It is not for clueless newbies. The CD-ROM contains sample scripts and modulas from the book, the entire Comprehensive Perl Archive Network archive, and pre-compiled ports of Perl for various platforms. The book is targeted at intermediate to advanced internet programmers.
For those wondering about the author....Bill Middleton works as a computer scientist for Adobe Systems in San Jose, California. His primary duties include automated testing for Adobe products, for which he uses Perl extensively. He also has the privilege of working with some of the original movers and shakers of the computer era at Adobe. Prior to working at Adobe, he worked for Motorola as a UNIX systems administrator. In early 1991, Bill cofounded an Internet service provider in Dallas, Texas, one of the very first ISPs in the country, called Metronet. He holds a B.S. in math/stats, with a minor in Computer Science.
(ps. If this is not enough info I can measure my copy to provide you with the dimensions).
credo quia absurdum
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If this is not enough info I can measure my copy to provide you with the dimensions
Your original review was in fact 4 short sentences and said next to nothing. My post was simply a suggestion that in order to be useful, the review should be more in-depth. I then posed a number of questions that you could answer to improve the review. This all should have been viewed as constructive criticism and either used to improve your review, or ignored and possibly countered if you felt it would not improve your post.
The book itself is divided into 16 chapters, all of which are simple, easy to understand, and concise and clear.
I could ask, how are they clear. I could ask for examples of the clarity. I could ask for what the sections actually cover. I could ask how well they cover them and if there are any deficiences.
The code is exactly how Perl is meant to be.
I could ask what exactly "Perl is meant to be." I could ask if this means the author uses strict and warnings. I could ask if it fits its intended purpose (ie to teach) and is not unecessarily complex. I could ask thousands of other questions, but honestly, I don't care and I doubt they'd be used by you to improve anything.
So in conclusion:
- If you're going to post something, make sure it adds something of value.
- Accept constructive criticism as what it is intended to be, constructive. Flaming your critics will just deprive you of their assistance.
- If you do post something without worth and choose to change it at a later date, at least place an accurate update notice. Changing a post and misrepresenting its original content is extremely bad form.
- I don't care if you follow the above advice. You're the only one that loses.
- I shouldn't have bothered to write this reply, it's a waste of my time, may as well post it now though.
Adios.
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I will admit I mispoke. I meant to say that my original reply to your post got messed up. It seems that when I thought I was replying, I was in fact replacing my first post.
I am not sure what you mean by the term "flaming", however, if I did it, it was truly unintentional.
I found it difficult to understand how you expect me to know what the author does with his money. I do not know many people that could give such information. Also I do not feel that it should play any part in whether or not you buy a book that has good information in it
As for the chapters being clear, well obvious to me, but maybe not to others, this is my opinion. I thought that was what a review was. I did not realize that I should give a list of each chapter. Or is that not what you were asking for?
When I said that the code is how Perl should be, I was trying to convey the fact that it followed the strictest format and is written as most Perl programmers try to get their code to be. It is clear. Not obfuscated at all. Does not seem to have any unecessary code in it and as it is in use in a few classrooms that I know of I would say it is a good reference. Again, this is my opinion.
I must admit that I read quite a few of the other reviews and several of them lacked the detail that you wanted from this review. I will apologize for the comment regarding the dimensions. That was uncalled for and I am sorry. To me your first reply seemed very insulting and I took it more personally than I should have. If I post anything in the future I will try to make it more useful.
Kerry
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