FW: O'Reilly Publishes Bunce' & Descarte's new Book on Perl DBI

[Brandon Gohsman]

Hello everyone,

This is the next book option and I have already requested a copy (seeing as
it is the first Perl related book I have seen in months). It is on Perl DBI
which, I imagine, will be a hot item for us.

See you all tomorrow,

Brandon Gohsman
Square One Design
560 5th Street NW, Suite 301
Grand Rapids, MI 49504

T 616.774.9048
F 616.774.8003
E brandon at squareonedesign.com
W http://www.squareonedesign.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Denise Olliffe [mailto:deniseo at oreilly.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2000 7:08 PM
To: brandon at squareonedesign.com
Subject: O'Reilly Publishes Bunce' & Descarte's new Book on Perl DBI

For free review copy contact:
Denise Olliffe
(707) 829-0515 ext. 339
deniseo at oreilly.com


O'Reilly Publishes Bunce'& Descarte's new Book on Perl DBI


As the Web moves from predominately brochure-ware to database-driven
applications, "database-independent" programming has become
increasingly important. One of the Perl programming languages' greatest
strengths is its ability to manipulate huge amounts of data. The Perl
Database Interface, better known as the Perl DBI, elegantly links the
Perl programming language and virtually any type of database.

With the Perl DBI, developers can program database applications to
interface with different drivers, they can reuse code written for one
database for another, they can use the same interface with all of the
most popular databases-even different databases simultaneously (for
example, a programmer can transfer data from an Oracle database to an
Informix database with a single DBI program that connects to both
databases and simply passes the data backwards and forwards as needed.)

"The DBI is a database interface module for Perl. It defines a set of
methods, variables and conventions that provide a consistent database
interface independent of the actual database being used," explains Tim
Bunce, the architect and inventor of DBI. "One important goal was for
any library code we developed to be reusable as part of another system
using a different database. Countless people have contributed over the
years. The mailing list archives are vast."

Bunce and Alligator Descartes, one of the most active members of the
DBI community, have collaborated on a new book, Programming the Perl
DBI (O'Reilly, $34.95). "I had been one of the first serious DBI
users," explains Descartes. "And also the first person-other than
Tim-to develop drivers for the DBI. Much of that experience and
knowledge from those activities made me think documenting the DBI would
be useful. This was doubly true when I noticed the same questions
appearing over and over again on the DBI-users mailing list. I realized
one of the problems appeared to be that people don't like learning from
specifications."

"We wanted to help people get the most out of the DBI by providing an
accurate, clear, and helpful guide," adds Bunce. "Accuracy is
important: In fact, it's one of my main motivations for working on the
book. I'm hopeful that our book will become the standard text for the
DBI."

For the uninitiated, the book explains the architecture of DBI and
shows you how to write DBI-based programs. For the experienced DBI
dabbler, this book explains DBI's nuances and the peculiarities of each
individual DBD. Programming the Perl DBI is the definitive book for
database programming in Perl.

For more information about the book, including Table of Contents,
index, author bios, and samples, see:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/perldbi/

For an interview with the authors, see:
http://perl.oreilly.com/news/perldbi_0200.html

For a cover graphic in jpeg format, go to:
ftp://ftp.ora.com/pub/graphics/book_covers/hi-res/1565926994.jpg

Alligator Descartes' Perl DBI resource site:
http://www.symbolstone.org/technology/perl/DBI/index.html

Up-to-date versions of the DBI and drivers are at:
http://www.perl.com/CPAN/


# # #


Programming the Perl DBI
Database Programming with Perl
By Alligator Descartes & Tim Bunce
1st Edition February 2000 (US)
1-56592-699-4, 350 pages, $34.95 (US.)
order at oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
http://www.oreilly.com