CGI Programming in C and Perl
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Spotlight Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 3.62Customer Rating: 2
Summary: It is ok, that is if you already know the stuff.
Comment: I know if you've read the reviews previous to this one, you should already know that you need to know C and Perl to read this book. But I am going to say it again. And you don't only need to be familiar with it. You need to KNOW it. If you don't, you'll get lost in three chapters like I did. Since it is a book based entirely on examples, unless you understand the code perfectly, you'll be lost. You also need to know the basis of CGI scripting to know where the script is getting at. You may ask if you already should know all this to understand the book, why buy it? For the examples I guess, but don't buy it to learn is my suggestion. Get a Dummie's book for that. Then get this one as reference.
Customer Rating: 4
Summary: a little out of date, but pretty good
Comment: I'd written many complex CGI scripts using Perl before even buying this book, and the concepts in it are sound and well explained. My purpose for this book was to make the difficult transition from PERL-based CGI programming to C-based CGI, and this book definitely served the purpose well. My only two complaints are: 1) There aren't enough code examples per chapter (remember what I bought the book for), and 2) The material is woefully out of date. Still, I haven't seen anything better at CGI using C out there, and I've been looking for a long time.
Customer Rating: 5
Summary: CGI Programming in C & Perl
Comment: An EXCELLENT buy -- you don't have to be a "Pro" to use the programs here -- but you can't be a rookie either... Get it "New" or "Used"--the price difference is insignificant--compared to what's inside the book....I bought this book a few months ago--here on AMAZON--and was delighted to find this book contained entire (web)-C-programs that ACTUALLY WORKED! If your web-server(CGI-scripts) are runnning at a crawl...it's probably because you are running a "convenient-scripting-language" -- instead of a C-program!! This book is NOT long-winded, but very practical. I have seen (repackaged???-or-similar)-versions of this code running on a few of the "higher-profile" web-sites. Over the years, I have acquired a STACK of other C-Programming Books--and I am afraid to buy any more of them--because I am tired of EXPERIMENTING to see which ones are PRACTICAL to READ, and I'm tired of reading GOBS of POINTLESS-and/or-BLOATED text--I am very happy with this book. I am a self-taught (Linux) C Programmer, and the C-and-PERL-programs from this book run well on Linux(kernels 2.2 thru 2.4)... This book is a great start in getting you up and running--but the rest is up to you--since you'll REALLY NEED to UNDERSTAND MODERN WEB SERVERS !!! ...and... ONE LAST NOTE-- this code may be considered "old" (written in 1996?) --it's NOT obsolete--but it still runs perfectly-and-flawlessly "as is" --on a modern-day Apache Web Server(Linux). This code has stood it's test of time. After you use these programs--it may become more obvious as to the "updates-additions-or-deletions" you'll want to make. Be sure to get Boutell's UPDATED CODE (from his web-site).