One of the greatest strengths of the Perl programming language is its ability to manipulate large amounts of data. Database programming is therefore a natural fit for Perl, not only for business applications but also for CGI-based web and intranet applications. The primary interface for database programming in Perl is DBI. DBI is a database-independent package that provides a consistent set of routines regardless of what database product you use--Oracle, Sybase, Ingres, Informix, you name it. The design of DBI is to separate the actual database drivers (DBDs) from the programmer's API, so any DBI program can work with any database, or even with multiple databases by different vendors simultaneously. Programming the Perl DBI is coauthored by Alligator Descartes, one of the most active members of the DBI community, and by Tim Bunce, the inventor of 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 reveals DBI's nuances and the peculiarities of each individual DBD. The book includes:

An introduction to DBI and its design
How to construct queries and bind parameters
Working with database, driver, and statement handles
Debugging techniques
Coverage of each existing DBD
A complete reference to DBI

This is the definitive book for database programming in Perl.

About the Author

Tim Bunce has been a perl5 porter since 1994, contributing to the development of the Perl language and many of its core modules. He is the author and maintainer of the DBI, DBD::Oracle,and Oracle::OCI modules, and author and co-maintainer of The Perl Module List. Tim is the founder and CTO of Data-Plan Services, a perl, database, and performance consultancy with an international client base. Prior to that we was Technical Director (CTO) of IG in the UK where he was awarded by British Telecom for his role in the rapid development of their Call Management Information service, a system implemented in Perl. He is co-author, along with Alligator Descartes, of Programming the Perl DBI, the definitive book on DBI, published by O'Reilly & Associates in February 2000.