“This new book from O’Reilly is the first one available from any
publisher on the subject of programming the Perl DBI, and its
authors are imminently qualified to write it. Tim Bunce wrote the
DBI Perl module, and also the DBD Oracle module. Alligator
Descartes, who originally began working on the book, is a leading
Perl/DBI exponent in the Oracle community. The authors have been
working on the Perl interface to relational databases, and
documentation thereof, since 1992. Programming the Perl DBI is not
merely a republication of older documentation. A great deal of new
material is here, not all of it about DBI.”
“The book starts out very simply, describing how even a flat
file like /etc/passwd can be a bona fide database. The authors
progress logically to more complex data models by addressing the
shortcomings of the simpler models. After flat files, the book
covers DBM and the Berkeley Database Manager, again noting the
details of use, pros, cons and applications where this type of
database is best used. A chapter on SQL and relational databases is
included as a primer for those who are new to the material.”
“Anyone who works with data will find this book useful. And
the more closely one works with relational databases and the
programs which access that data, the more useful it will
be.”