Web Client Programming with Perl

Amazon.com

If you've ever wanted to learn more about Web protocols so you could build custom client-side tools to automate tasks--or just so you have a better understanding of what's happening behind the scenes--then Web Client Programming with Perl is the book for you. Wong explains HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) requests and socket calls, then shows how you can use the LWP library for Perl to retrieve Web pages, parse HTML, check whether a server is responding, and more./p>

Reviews From AMAZON.COM

Oh My good lord! What happened?

I see little that could improve upon this book. Its examples are awful and assume a knowledge of Perl not expected of similar entry-level texts.

Avoid this book unless you have a great solid background in Perl. But then again, if that's the case you probably wouldn't need this book.

Too shallow.

I personally found this book much less informative than I was hoping.

Most of the book is dedicated to explaining the ins and outs of HTTP. There is not enough sample code, and the code that is given is pretty basic.

As far as information about programming web clients with perl, I have found that it is more helpful to just do web seraches, and read the examples available on various web sites.

The book does do a good job of explaining HTTP and the how web clients operate. I just wish there had been more information about Perl clients specifically.

I wouldn't pay [as much] for this book. Look for it used, it's not hard to find.