[NTLUG:Discuss] Perl and XML courses?

[brian@pongonova.net]

On Fri, Apr 19, 2002 at 02:36:43PM -0500, Tom Woody wrote:
> What I need to do on the surface seems very easy...but as I have gotten into it
> gets harder as I try and understand XML.  I have read 2 books, and both tell me
> different things...

Just a couple of observations from one who has toiled with, and taught, both
Perl and XML:

If you're comfortable with a programming language (you indicated Java and C/C++),
then Perl will be a snap for you to pick up.  "Programming Perl" is considered the
Perl bible -- 3rd edition, O'Reilly.  I usually wouldn't recommend only this book
for someone just starting with Perl as their first language, but since you have
some programming experience under your belt, the "camel" book should be all you
need to get up and running with Perl.

As for XML:  XML itself isn't complex.  But DTDs can get mighty complex in a hurry.
Unless you have a real need for validating your data against a DTD (especially if
you're doing this "in-house" and not intending it to be used as a public
interface), you can probably get by with a simple XML schema using one of the
available Perl XML parsers.  In any event, I suggest checking out www.xml.com,
which has *many* examples of XML!  (There is even a dedicated Perl/XML column.)  

Some of the local community colleges offer Perl, usually as part of their
web-authoring offerings (I teach Perl at Richland and Brookhaven).  However, these
courses generally have no XML content, and it's been my experience that folks with
programming backgrounds generally have little problem in picking up Perl on their
own.  

Make sure you search the available Perl modules on www.cpan.org.  I've not
searched for XML parsers recently, but I've seen some suggestions here from others
that I would agree are worth checking out.

Good luck!

  --Brian