Why Would You Want To Use Perl Scripts?

First let me tell you the history of Perl scripts and then I will go into why I think Perl is the best overall programming language that there is. Perl is a programming language created by Larry Wall in 1987. It is based mainly on the programming language C but also borrows features from many other languages. Many people new to this language think that it is written PERL and is an acronym but that is not the true name and is a way that “insiders” identify “outsiders” in this programming language’s world.

Perl was originally named “Pearl” after the parable of Jesus Christ in the Bible that talks about a man who found a pearl in a field and immediately went and sold all that he had in order to buy the pearl. Otherwise known as the story of “the Pearl of Great Price,” the pearl originally was a symbol for the kingdom of heaven something obviously of great value and it was this idea of great value that Larry named his language. Unfortunately Larry found that there was already a programming language named “pearl” and so he shortened the name to Perl. The original manual had a camel as the cover picture and the symbol of the camel has becomes Perl’s official symbol.

Although it is not an acronym it has become known as Perl – practical extraction and report language. This is a good description of the tasks that Perl scripts are good for that is data in the form of text that are found in lists, programs, etc. Because it is good at these things it has widely been used like glue in the programming world, that is it can be used as an interfacing language to run programs together that were not originally designed to be compatible. Its use on the popular LAMP platform for web development is an obvious application for these abilities to interface. This is a main reason why this should be of interest to you, the ultimate internet marketer. Other popular applications or in the informatics world where it can be used to manage large and complex databases.

Perl is either loved or hated. Those who hate on Perl scripts cite their ugly and “write only” format. This references the programming language’s complex use of punctuation and symbols, making its readability not the greatest and often such that you can’t go back and look at the code and easily understand what the programmer was intending. Those who love Perl talk of its ease of use and its wide range of application.

CSS

More and more web developers are ditching tables and coming round to the idea of using CSS to control the layout of their site. With the many benefits of using CSS, such as quicker download time, improved accessibility and easier site management, it has gained wider acceptance.

The Cascading Style Sheets is a style-sheet language used to describe the presentation of a document written in a markup language like HTML and XML. It is used to enable readers of web pages to define colors, fonts, layout and other aspects of objects present on the web page. By reading various articles posted on the internet, you can acquire good knowledge about this language.

CSS has a simple syntax and uses English keywords to specify the names of various style properties. For a beginner, it is very easy to understand. A style sheet consists of a set of rules. Each rule or rule-set consists of one or more selectors and a declaration block. A declaration-block consists of a list of semicolon-terminated declarations in curly braces. Each declaration itself consists of a property, a colon (:), a value, then a semi-colon (;).

Before the introduction of CSS mistakes, all the attributes related to the presentation aspects were written within the markup language. This resulted in lengthy HTML code. There was also repetition of tasks leading to wastage of time and space. But, Cascading Style Sheets allows authors to move much of that information to a separate style-sheet resulting in considerably simpler HTML markup. So you will get faster downloading of web pages.

Historically the main problem with using CSS has been lack of browser support. This is no longer the case as version 5 browsers, which all have good support for CSS, now account for over 99% of browsers in use. Instead, the problem is that browsers can sometimes interpret its commands in different ways, causing developers to throw their arms up in the air and switch back to pixel-perfect table layouts.But by learning more about this style-sheet language you'll slowly start to understand the different browser interpretations and realize that the drawbacks aren't really that many.

Of CGI And Java Scripts

CGI and Java Scripts are both functional with both Netscape and Internet Explorer browsers. But there is an essential difference between the two. Java functions as a code executed and downloaded in the clients' side while CGI operates with the server. Before probing deeper into the difference of the two, let us first try to understand these two often-used scripts.

Java Script requires no special plug-ins, and it works transparently within an HTML page. It animates web page graphics, allows users to change page elements (background color, display preferences), and allows site navigation. Usually, Java Scripts are made up of two parts: the Java Script functions (the instructions for what the Java Script does on the page) and elements that cause the Java Script functions to execute. These two go in different ways. The Java Script functions are placed between special Java Script tags within the head tags in the HTML source. Java Scripts follow specific punctuation conventions. Usually, Java Script functions are the last element within the head tag. The elements that cause the Java Script to execute are placed within the body tags of the HTML source, depending on where the web page designer wants the Java Script to run. Because Java Script is included in the other HTML tags in the page source, a web page with Java Script elements will be saved in exactly the same format as a web page: the file type should be an ASCII text, and the file name should have the suffix .html appended to the end of it. The script's difference from CGI will not be clear unless we discuss both CGI and Java Scripts.

CGI is the short version of Common Gateway Interface. It is commonly used in web pages because it allows interactivity by letting the web server respond to user input through a web page with CGI elements. A common example of CGI function is a web guest book. A web designer usually includes a web guest book in the web page so users and visitors can put in their suggestions. These suggestions are collected by the CGI and e-mailed to the designer. CGI and Java Scripts also have a similarity. Like in a Java Script, files used in CGI must be ASCII text with the suffix .html appended to the end of it. However, if a CGI script will be stored in the CGI bin, it is most likely that the file must be saved as a Perl document. Unlike Java Script, where the functions must reside within the head tags, form elements can be placed wherever the web page designer wants to put them. The only consideration is that to call the CGI script, HTML tags should come before the form elements of the page.

Though both scripts have different functions, both CGI and Java Scripts have undoubtedly improve the way the internet works. They have also infiltrated the world of movies and televisions with digital films and fantastic characters. Who knows, maybe more uses of both scripts will be identified in the future.

PHP, Learn Something New

If your anything like the majority of society, myself included, you could probably use a little more info on certain aspects of computers. Here, I decided to take a look at "PHP". Yeah I know, that's what I said, "Yeah right!", but it's not so confusing when you look at it a little closer...

PHP is an acronym (One of those things smart people use to confuse us) which stands for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor". It used to stand for "Personal Home Page", but that must have been too easy. So after a little reasearch I found out just what the acronym meant. It is an open source, reflective programming language.

Apparently, all that programming language stuff is to develop "dynamic web content and server side applications". They have also found a new use for it in other types of software.

Once again, this stuff is pretty tricky, but take a look elseware! Maybe there is a "PHP for Dummies" out there. I would encourage any of you who have the slightest incling to find out more, to do so. It's actually pretty interesting! The best thing to do for more information is to check out forums, blogs, or websites about PHP. There is also books and an actual formal development manual that you can purchase from a store or borrow from a library, that will be able to answer any of your questions about this particlular programming language.