So you've learned Perl, but you're getting frustrated. Perhaps you've taken on a larger project than the ones you're used to. Or you want to add a user interface or a networking component. Or you need to do more complicated error trapping.

Whether your knowledge of Perl is casual or deep, this book will make you a more accomplished programmer. Here you can learn the complex techniques for production-ready Perl programs. This book explains methods for manipulating data and objects that may have looked like magic before. Furthermore, it sets Perl in the context of a larger environment, giving you the background you need for dealing with networks, databases, and GUIs. The discussion of internals helps you program more efficiently and embed Perl within C or C within Perl.

Major topics covered include:

• Practical use of packages and classes (object-oriented programming)
• Complex data structures
• Persistence (e.g., using a database)
• Networking
• Graphical interfaces, using the Tk toolkit
• Interaction with C language functions
• Embedding and extending the Perl interpreter
• Selected internals

In addition, the book patiently explains all sorts of language details you've always wanted to know more about, such as the use of references, trapping errors through the eval operator, non-blocking I/O, when closures are helpful, and using ties to trigger actions when data is accessed. You will emerge from this book a better hacker, and a proud master of Perl.

 Table of Contents
Preface 

1. Data References and Anonymous Storage 
    Referring to Existing Variables
    Using References
    Nested Data Structures
    Querying a Reference
    Symbolic References
    A View of the Internals
    References in Other Languages
    Resources

2. Implementing Complex Data Structures 
    User-Defined Structures
    Example: Matrices
    Professors, Students, Courses
    Pass the Envelope
    Pretty-Printing
    Resources

3. Typeglobs and Symbol Tables 
    Perl Variables, Symbol Table, and Scoping
    Typeglobs
    Typeglobs and References
    Filehandles, Directory Handles, and Formats

4. Subroutine References and Closures 
    Subroutine References
    Using Subroutine References
    Closures
    Using Closures
    Comparisons to Other Languages
    Resources

5. Eval 
    The String Form: Expression Evaluation
    The Block Form: Exception Handling
    Watch Your Quotes
    Using Eval for Expression Evaluation
    Using Eval for Efficiency
    Using Eval for Time-Outs
    Eval in Other Languages
    Resources

6. Modules 
    Basic Package
    Packages and Files
    Package Initialization and Destruction
    Privacy
    Importing Symbols
    Nesting Packages
    Autoloading
    Accessing the Symbol Table
    Language Comparisons

7. Object-Oriented Programming 
    OO: An Introduction
    Objects in Perl
    UNIVERSAL
    Recap of Conventions
    Comparison with Other OO Languages
    Resources

8. Object Orientation: The Next Few Steps 
    Efficient Attribute Storage
    Delegation
    On Inheritance
    Resources

9. Tie 
    Tying Scalars
    Tying Arrays
    Tying Hashes
    Tying Filehandles
    Example: Monitoring Variables
    Comparisons with Other Languages

10. Persistence 
    Persistence Issues
    Streamed Data
    Record-Oriented Approach
    Relational Databases
    Resources

11. Implementing Object Persistence 
    Adaptor: An Introduction
    Design Notes
    Implementation
    Resources

12. Networking with Sockets 
    Networking Primer
    Socket API and IO::Socket
    Handling Multiple Clients
    Real-World Servers
    IO Objects and Filehandles
    Prebuilt Client Modules
    Resources

13. Networking: Implementing RPC 
    Msg: Messaging Toolkit
    Remote Procedure Calls (RPC)
    Resources

14. User Interfaces with Tk 
    Introduction to GUIs, Tk, and Perl/Tk
    Starting with Perl/Tk
    Widget Tour
    Geometry Management
    Timers
    Event Bindings
    Event Loops
    Resources

15. GUI Example: Tetris 
    Introduction to Tetris
    Design
    Implementation

16. GUI Example: Man Page Viewer 
    man and perlman
    Implementation
    Resources

17. Template-Driven Code Generation 
    On Code Generation
    Jeeves Example
    Jeeves Overview
    Jeeves Implementation
    Sample Specification Parser
    Resources

18. Extending Perl: A First Course 
    Writing an Extension: Overview
    Example: Fractals with Perl
    SWIG Features
    XS Features
    Degrees of Freedom
    A Detour into Fractals
    Resources

19. Embedding Perl: The Easy Way 
    Why Embed?
    Embedding Overview
    Examples
    Adding Extensions
    Resources

20. Perl Internals 
    Reading the Source
    Architecture
    Perl Value Types
    Stacks and Messaging Protocol
    Meaty Extensions
    Easy Embedding API
    A Peek into the Future
    Resources

A. Tk Widget Reference 

B. Syntax Summary 

Index