Perl Jumpstart

• The courseware is available on the web at http://www.keller.com/perljumpstart

• Emphasis on practical skills
• Hands-on
• Web-based materials

• Grasp the syntax of Perl
• Invoke Perl
• Interact with users through standard I/O
• Do file I/O
• Use various built-in functions
• Embed comments in your code
• Write loops, branches, and related control structures
• Process text in a variety of powerful ways
• Find, compare, and modify strings
• Process list variables
• Process arrays
• Use regular expressions and the associated Perl operators
• Use special features of Perl 5
• Process command-line arguments
• Use Perl's special built-in variables
• Write modular code (subroutines and structure)
• Grasp issues of Perl programming style
• Apply the notion of scope
• Generate attractively-formatted output
• Use boolean operators
• Pipe to Unix and NT utilities
• Use associative arrays
• Handle dbm files
• Write object-oriented Perl code
• Make your programs robust
• Handle errors, generate messages, terminate gracefully
• Use Perl's debugger

With a series of practical examples that are increasingly sophisticated, this course teaches the foundations of Perl programming. Attendees construct a life-like data processing package for the hypothetical Joe's Garage. The essential components of the language are introduced as they are used to satisfy Joe's data management, entry, and reporting requirements.

Programming is best learned by example. This presentation is task-oriented rather than the more common but less effective feature-oriented approach. As each mechanism in the language is presented, it is clear why it is needed, and the example demonstrates it quickly.

No other Perl class covers this much material this quickly. Attendees emerge with practical skills -- they can write substantial Perl programs of their own -- after being away from their desks for a minimum time.

• A classroom
• A whiteboard or flipchart
• A computer for each student
• Unix/Linux/Solaris/HP-UX or Windows 95/98/NT/2000)
• A computer for the instructor
• A data projector for the instructor's computer
• A web browser on each computer
• Connection to the Internet
• Perl version 5.004 or later
• Detailed system configuration instructions are available at http://www.keller.com/curric/perl-setup.html