http://qs321.pair.com?node_id=542365


in reply to Dynamic Web Page approach?

I was asked to do something like this about seven years ago, and it turned out that the Access database was optional -- it was what the start-up company was using for their in-house data, but the web site didn't yet exist and there was no reason to specify windoze as the hosting platform. So, I eliminated the windoze requirement, convinced them to provide flatfile (TSV) dumps of their data, and stuffed the whole thing into MySQL on Linux with Apache.

Their web site uses CGI::FastTemplate as the templating engine with MySQL behind it. CGI::FastTemplate was chosen (by me) because the site was originally deployed in a shared web hosting environment and being relatively light it doesn't compete too much with other domains wanting their fair share of resources. Today the site is on its own server, but we're still using CGI::FastTemplate because it ain't broke.

If I had it to do over again, I might still use CGI::FastTemplate because the client company likes to pinch pennies by doing a lot of their own web site maintenance, and the steeper learning curve of the more powerful templating engines would probably knock them for a loop. This way, I keep a happy client. I'd never suggest that CGI::FastTemplate is the best solution for even a simple majority of applications, but the learning curve is relatively short and shallow, and in this case it's done exactly what's needed and everyone's happy.

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Re^2: Dynamic Web Page approach?
by gj2666 (Beadle) on Apr 10, 2006 at 21:05 UTC
    Thanks, this module appears to be well documented and at my level of comprehension. I'll take a closer look. gj