[techtalk] Dynamic Web sites on Linux

[Dan McGarry]

----- Original Message -----
From: <jennyw at griffon.personic.com>
To: <techtalk at linuxchix.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2000 10:17 PM
Subject: [techtalk] Dynamic Web sites on Linux


> Just wondering if anyone cared to share their experience with developing
> database aware Web sites on the Linux platform.

[snippage]

It seems clear from the deletia that you've already done a good deal of
homework. So I'll say from the outset that I've been actively avoiding
databases recently -- or trying to 8^) -- in favour of text. Feel free to
ignore this message if you're looking for nitty-gritty DB details.

I have found mod_perl on Apache to be a wonderful tool, though. Both Perl
and Apache are mature and extremely well documented. Their support
communities are robust. I've been able to find resolutions for arcane
problems without too much fuss and bother. With mod_perl you get a number of
handy bonuses:

    * It's much easier to persist data between sessions. This includes
database connections.

    * You have the flexibility of a scripting language with the performance
boost that comes from its compile-once-and-store-in-memory architecture.
Word on the street is that performance approaches that of C. (This could
easily be bragging for all I know. I've never done any formal testing. I do
know that everything I've ported to mod_perl from VB/ASP/NT has achieved
rocket-like velocity compared to its earlier incarnation.)

    * The number of modules available for Perl makes most tasks much easier
than they might otherwise have been.

Admittedly this last means more to someone who needs to do a lot of text
parsing and formatting. With many DB apps, all that is really required is a
rock solid data structure and some code to "shovel bits" as a friend of mine
once put it.

And, as with all silver linings, there comes a patch or two of grey:

    * The very persistence that I was raving about above can cause some
squirrelly problems if one tries to apply CGI or shell-scripting approaches
to variable instantiation and scoping. The -w flag and USE STRICT are, IMHO
essential to one's sanity in mod_perl.

    * Ease of maintenance is directly proportional to the time and care that
are put into the creation of the code. Larry Wall says 'There's more than
one way to do it,' but there are times when the Perl's loose syntax can make
for mightily obfuscated code. There's an anecdote attributed to Larry Wall
in which his daughter watches him writing code for a while then asks,
"Daddy, are you swearing?"

My $0.0163 CDN
--
Dan McGarry
http://www.moodindigo.com/



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