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Foreword to the First Edition of Learning Perl

Foreword to the Present Edition

Preface

1. Introduction
     History of Perl
     Purpose of Perl
     Availability
     Support
     Basic Concepts
     A Stroll Through Perl
     Exercises

2. Scalar Data
     What Is Scalar Data?
     Numbers
     Strings
     Scalar Operators
     Scalar Variables
     Scalar Operators and Functions
     STDIN as a Scalar Value
     Output with print
     The Undefined Value
     Exercises

3. Arrays and List Data
     What Is a List or Array?
     Literal Representation
     Variables
     Array Operators and Functions
     Scalar and List Context
      as an Array
     Variable Interpolation of Arrays
     Exercises

4. Control Structures
     Statement Blocks
     The if/unless Statement
     The while/until Statement
     The do {} while/until Statement
     The for Statement
     The foreach Statement
     Exercises

5. Hashes
     What Is a Hash?
     Hash Variables
     Literal Representation of a Hash
     Hash Functions
     Hash Slices
     Exercises

6. Basic I/O
     Input from STDIN
     Input from the Diamond Operator
     Output to STDOUT
     Exercises

7. Regular Expressions
     Concepts About Regular Expressions
     Simple Uses of Regular Expressions
     Patterns
     More on the Matching Operator
     Substitutions
     The split and join Functions
     Exercises

8. Functions
     Defining a User Function
     Invoking a User Function
     Return Values
     Arguments
     Private Variables in Functions
     Semiprivate Variables Using local
     File-Level my( ) Variables
     Exercises

9. Miscellaneous Control Structures
     The last Statement
     The next Statement
     The redo Statement
     Labeled Blocks
     Expression Modifiers
     &&, ||, and ?: as Control Structures
     Exercises

10. Filehandles and File Tests
     What Is a Filehandle?
     Opening and Closing a Filehandle
     Using Pathnames and Filenames
     A Slight Diversion: die
     Using Filehandles
     The -x File Tests
     The stat Function
     Exercises

11. Formats
     What Is a Format?
     Defining a Format
     Invoking a Format
     More About the Fieldholders
     The Top-of-Page Format
     Changing Defaults for Formats
     The FileHandle Module
     Exercises

12. Directory Access
     Moving Around the Directory Tree
     Globbing
     Directory Handles
     Opening and Closing a Directory Handle
     Reading a Directory Handle
     Exercises

13. File and Directory Manipulation
     Removing a File
     Renaming a File
     Making and Removing Directories
     Modifying Permissions
     Modifying Timestamps
     Exercises

14. Process Management
     Using system and exec
     Using Backquotes
     Using Processes as Filehandles
     Summary of Process Operations
     Win32::Process
     Exercises

15. Other Data Transformation
     Finding a Substring
     Extracting and Replacing a Substring
     Formatting Data with sprintf( )
     Advanced Sorting
     Transliteration
     Exercises

16. System Information
     Getting User and Machine Information
     Packing and Unpacking Binary Data
     Getting Network Information
     The Registry
     Opening and Reading Registry Values
     Setting Registry Values
     Exercises

17. Database Manipulation
     DBM Databases and DBM Hashes
     Opening and Closing DBM Hashes
     Using a DBM Hash
     Fixed-Length Random-Access Databases
     Variable-Length ( Text) Databases
     Win32 Database Interfaces
     Exercises

18. CGI Programming
     The CGI.pm Module
     Your CGI Program in Context
     Simplest CGI Program
     Passing Parameters via CGI
     Creating a Guestbook Program
     Troubleshooting CGI Programs
     Perl and the Web: Beyond CGI Programming
     Further Reading
     Exercises

19. OLE Automation
     Introduction to OLE Automation
     Creating Automation Objects
     Using Automation Objects
     Variants
     Tips and Techniques
     Exercises

A. Exercise Answers

B. Libraries and Modules

C. Networking Clients

D. Topics We Didn't Mention

Index