News and Info
04/07/2006 EditIntroducing Lua
Scripting is highly important to extensible applications. Not only is it easier to write logic in higher-level languages, but also it's often safer. It can be effective, too--consider that World of Warcraft and other games embed the Lua language and use it for scripts, AI, configuration, and even user interface management. Why Lua? Keith Fieldhouse introduces the language and explains why it's so appropriate.
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2006/02/16/introducing-lua.html
Digitizing VHS Tapes with EyeTV
By digitizing your old VHS tapes, you can move them from taking up precious shelf space to more readily available disk space. In this article, Joe McMahon shows you a hack that lets you archive full-quality digital recordings from EyeTV to offline media, but still play them back easily in EyeTV.
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2006/02/14/eyetv.html
Advanced Subroutine Techniques
Subroutines seem like a basic building block of code. They're simple and easy to understand and use, right? That's true--but there are a few advanced techniques to make your code more maintainable and robust. Rob Kinyon goes beyond making sense of subroutines to making subroutines work for you.
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2006/02/23/advanced_subroutines.html
Managing Rich Data Structures
Perl is so good at handling plain text files that it's seductively easy to use them when you need something better. Yet sometimes using a full-fledged database is just Too Much Work. If only Dave Baker had written an article on using complex, persistent data structures with MLDBM.
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2006/02/16/mldbm.html
Debugging and Profiling mod_perl Applications
How do you use the debugger on a mod_perl application? How do you profile an application embedded in a web server, with multiple child processes? Don't worry. Where there's Perl, there's a way. Frank Wiles demonstrates how to debug and profile mod_perl applications.
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2006/02/09/debug_mod_perl.html
Test-Driving X11 GUIs
Is GUI testing as difficult as it seems? Maybe not, with the right testing libraries. George Nistorica shows what X11::GUITest can and can't do to make your Unix and Unix-like applications more robust.
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2006/02/02/x11_gui_testing.html
More Advancements in Perl Programming
What's advanced Perl programming? The definition has changed over the years. For a while it was XS and GUIs and typeglobs and OO. Now a lot of it is using CPAN effectively. Since completing Advanced Perl Programming, Second Edition, Simon Cozens has discovered even more ways to work more smartly and effectively. Here's what he's learned.
http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2006/01/26/more_advanced_perl.html
Using Ajax from Perl
The recently rediscovered Ajax technique makes the client side of web programming much more useful and pleasant. However, it also means revising your existing web applications to take advantage of this new power. Dominic Mitchell shows how to use CGI::Ajax to give your Perl applications access to this new power.
