Learning Perl

If you would like to add interactive elements such as forms or drop-down lists to your site, you may want to rely on Practical Extraction and Report Language (Perl). You don’t necessarily need to enroll in a Perl class at your local community college. There are plenty of tutorials on the Web.

Decherd’s Perl 101 primer is a great place to start. Not only does it give the history of Perl, but it also explains how Perl can be used alone or in conjunction with CGI. For additional reference, check out the list of Perl-related sites.

Perl.com has plenty of basic information about the language, as well as FAQS, news, and links to everything from the Perl Institute to Bug Reports.

Want to get an idea of how Perl works? Read up on My Favorite Perl Functions, a story in Web Review dedicated to the most “useful and often underused” functions, such as chomp, join, push, split, and unlink (you will have to read the article to find out what these mean).

Builder has a great feature called Cool Web Solutions With Perl, which explains everything from how to embed Perl Script in HTML to how to make the most of Mac Perl. It also offers a good general overview of the language.

Web Monkey’s Perl Scripts for Beginners is a few years old, but that doesn’t mean it should be overlooked. Web Monkey’s tutorials are great in that not only are they well written but they show you how to use Perl step by step and they offer sample script.

IT Resources Online

It isn’t easy to stay abreast of developments in the ever-evolving world of information technology. Just as you’ve mastered one technology, along comes another one with its own idiosyncrasies. This is one field where you can’t be an expert in absolutely everything, but we’ve put together some online resources that should help lessen the learning curve. live chat

  • IT professionals who need quick answers to pressing problems will appreciate Inquiry.com. You can search for specific information, join in one of the forums, or if you have more time, you can wait for a response from one of the IT “pros.” If you are interested in programming tools, take a look at Inquiry buyer’s guide, which lists information for more than 5,000 products.
  • Tech Guide is another great resource. The site is divided up into four searchable sections: communications and networking, Internet technology, data warehousing and document management. In addition, Tech Guide lists information on trade shows, relevant IT publications, educational seminars and other Web resources.
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  • The year 000 may be two years away, but year 000 hysteria already is in full force. Get all of the facts, news tips and tricks about the so-called year 000 problem at The Year website. You also can learn about jobs, exchange ideas in user groups and sign up for the free newsletter.
  • Want to find out how the Internet is performing right now? Both the Internet Traffic Report and the Internet Weather Report enable you to keep your finger on the pulse of the Internet. live chat software

Getting Network Tech Support Online

Being an information-technology professional can be a somewhat isolated job, especially if you work in a small company. If you run into a networking problem you don’t know how to solve, there may not be anyone else in the company to whom you can turn for an answer. Fortunately, there are plenty of places on the Web where you can search for answers to a specific problem, chat with other IT professionals, or hit up an expert for his or her opinion. Read more

Connected Earth: Into the networked age

Before the Internet came about there were other solutions to the need for data exchange and computer networking. Rather than send text and numbers between telex machines, the network could be used to send data between computers. Before the Internet, Britain had its own commercial, online, networked service that would transmit data, offer online services and exchange electronic mails – all the things you can do on the Internet.