PR005 - Perl and CGI Programming

Summary

This three-day course provides an in-depth understanding and hands-on knowledge of the capabilities of the de facto Internet client-server communications protocol: Common Gateway Interface (better known as CGI).

In this course, you will learn about the specifications of the CGI protocol, details regarding its operation, and how to use the Perl programming language to perform common and powerful CGI communications and processing tasks on a Web server.

To get the most from this course, you should have a thorough understanding of and experience with HTML 4.0. Experience with a programming language is not necessary, but will speed your progress.

Prerequisites

• A solid knowledge of HTML 4.0, including forms and form properties, is assumed. In addition, students should be familiar with the process of uploading files to a Web server via FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
• HTML 4.0 Fundamentals
• HTML 4.0 Intermediate
• HTML 4.0 Advanced 

Performance-Based Objectives

Lesson objectives help students become comfortable with the course, and also provide a means to evaluate learning. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Output dynamically generated HTML to a Web browser.
• Process data from an HTML form.
• Save data to a Web server.

Course Content

Lesson 1: Introduction to CGI
          Topic 1A: CGI: Beyond HTML
          Topic 1B: How a Web Server Functions
          Topic 1C: The CGI Protocol
          Topic 1D: CGI Programming Languages

Lesson 2: Introduction to Perl
          Topic 2A: History of Perl
          Topic 2B: Perl Advantages & Disadvantages
          Topic 2C: The Perl Interpreter
          Topic 2D: Perl File Conventions
          Topic 2E: Using Perl on UNIX

Lesson 3: How Perl Talks to the Browser
          Topic 3A: Perl / Browser Communication
          Topic 3B: Making a CGI Look Like a Web Page
          Topic 3C: Print Using "qq"
          Topic 3D: Printing Multiple Lines

Lesson 4: Perl Variables
          Topic 4A: Variables
          Topic 4B: Scalars
          Topic 4C: Arrays
          Topic 4D: Hashes

Lesson 5: Perl Loops & Logic
          Topic 5A: Loops
          Topic 5B: Logical Operations
          Topic 5C: if…
          Topic 5D: Else & elsif

Lesson 6: How the Browser Talks to Perl
          Topic 6A: Environment Variables
          Topic 6B: GET & POST
          Topic 6C: Using CGI.PM
          Topic 6D: Debugging CGIs

Lesson 7: Storing & Retrieving Information
          Topic 7A: Storing Data
          Topic 7B: Appending Data
          Topic 7C: Reading Data

Lesson 8: REGEX: The Match Operator
          Topic 8A: Introduction to Regexes
          Topic 8B: The m// Operator
          Topic 8C: i Modifier
          Topic 8D: Special Characters
          Topic 8E: Character Classes
          Topic 8F: Parentheses

Lesson 9: REGEX: The Substitute Operator
          Topic 9A: s/// Operator
          Topic 9B: More Modifiers
          Topic 9C: Backreferences
          Topic 9D: tr/// Operator

Lesson 10: Subroutines
          Topic 10A: Organizing Data
          Topic 10B: Scoping
          Topic 10C: Functions

Lesson 11: CGI Techniques
          Topic 11A: Outputting Graphics
          Topic 11B: Outputting PDF
          Topic 11C: Redirecting the Browser
          Topic 11D: Using HTML Templates
          Topic 11E: Cookies
          Topic 11F: Sending E-mail Using CGI

Lesson 12: CGI Security
          Topic 12A: Web Server Security