1. Chapter 1 Getting Started

   1. History

   2. Introduction to CGI

   3. Alternative Technologies

   4. Web Server Configuration

2. Chapter 2 The Hypertext Transport Protocol

   1. URLs

   2. HTTP

   3. Browser Requests

   4. Server Responses

   5. Proxies

   6. Content Negotiation

   7. Summary

3. Chapter 3 The Common Gateway Interface

   1. The CGI Environment

   2. Environment Variables

   3. CGI Output

   4. Examples

4. Chapter 4 Forms and CGI

   1. Sending Data to the Server

   2. Form Tags

   3. Decoding Form Input

5. Chapter 5 CGI.pm

   1. Overview

   2. Handling Input with CGI.pm

   3. Generating Output with CGI.pm

   4. Alternatives for Generating Output

   5. Handling Errors

6. Chapter 6 HTML Templates

   1. Reasons for Using Templates

   2. Server Side Includes

   3. HTML::Template

   4. Embperl

   5. Mason

7. Chapter 7 JavaScript

   1. Background

   2. Forms

   3. Data Exchange

   4. Bookmarklets

8. Chapter 8 Security

   1. The Importance of Web Security

   2. Handling User Input

   3. Encryption

   4. Perl's Taint Mode

   5. Data Storage

   6. Summary

9. Chapter 9 Sending Email

   1. Security

   2. Email Addresses

   3. Structure of Internet Email

   4. sendmail

   5. mailx and mail

   6. Perl Mailers

   7. procmail

10. Chapter 10 Data Persistence

    1. Text Files

    2. DBM Files

    3. Introduction to SQL

    4. DBI

11. Chapter 11 Maintaining State

    1. Query Strings and Extra Path Information

    2. Hidden Fields

    3. Client-Side Cookies

12. Chapter 12 Searching the Web Server

    1. Searching One by One

    2. Searching One by One, Take Two

    3. Inverted Index Search

13. Chapter 13 Creating Graphics on the Fly

    1. File Formats

    2. Outputting Image Data

    3. Generating PNGs with GD

    4. Additional GD Modules

    5. PerlMagick

14. Chapter 14 Middleware and XML

    1. Communicating with Other Servers

    2. An Introduction to XML

    3. Document Type Definition

    4. Writing an XML Parser

    5. CGI Gateway to XML Middleware

15. Chapter 15 Debugging CGI Applications

    1. Common Errors

    2. Perl Coding Techniques

    3. Debugging Tools

16. Chapter 16 Guidelines for Better CGI Applications

    1. Architectural Guidelines

    2. Coding Guidelines

17. Chapter 17 Efficiency and Optimization

    1. Basic Perl Tips, Top Ten

    2. FastCGI

    3. mod_perl

1. Appendix A Works Cited and Further Reading

   1. References

   2. Additional Reading

   3. RFCs

   4. Other Specifications

   5. Project Home Pages

   6. Newsgroups

2. Appendix B Perl Modules

   1. CPAN

   2. perldoc

3. Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal featured on the cover of CGI Programming with Perl, Second Edition, is a mouse, a rodent of the family Muridae. True, or long-tailed, mice belong to the youngest group in the animal kingdom, approximately 15 million years old. Over 200 species of mice exist, but the most common is the house mouse. The house mouse is the second most widely distributed mammal on Earth, behind only humans. Despite their name, house mice often live in fields, but they usually live near human dwellings. House mice eat almost anything, but they prefer grains and grain products.

Mice reach sexual maturity at two to three months of age. After a gestation period of 20 to 21 days, they deliver a litter averaging six blind, bald, helpless babies. House-dwelling mice can bear young continually, but if overpopulation becomes a problem some female mice will remain infertile.

Mice are often considered to be pests, or worse. They can cause serious crop damage, as well as food contamination. In addition, mice can carry viral, bacterial, and parasitic disease. Despite all this, mice were worshipped in parts of Asia Minor and Greece in ancient times. Today, mice continue to hold an important part in popular culture, often appearing as the heroes of cartoons and books that are ostensibly intended for children, such as Stuart Little, Pinky and the Brain, and, of course, Mickey Mouse. Nicole Arigo was the production editor and copyeditor for CGI Programming with Perl, Second Edition. Emily Quill proofread the book. Melanie Wang, Mary Anne Weeks Mayo, and Jane Ellin provided quality control. Ellen Troutman Zaig wrote the index.

Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book, using a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

Alicia Cech and David Futato designed the interior layout based on a series design by Nancy Priest. Mike Sierra implemented the design in FrameMaker 5.5.6. The text and heading fonts are ITC Garamond Light and Garamond Book. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Rhon Porter using Macromedia FreeHand 8 and Adobe Photoshop 5. This colophon was written by Clairemarie Fisher O'Leary.