1. Copyright © 2003 ProsoftTraining. All rights reserved. Perl Fundamentals

2. Copyright © 2003 ProsoftTraining. All rights reserved. Lesson 1: Introduction to Perl

3. Objectives Describe the benefits of Perl Explain the role of the Perl interpreter Identify the characteristics of Perl’s basic syntax Describe the use of the print function Create and execute a simple Perl script Define scalar variables Use scalar variables to manipulate numerical and string data Use expression operators Retrieve data from STDIN

4. Practical Extracting and Reporting Language Why use Perl? –Innate flexibility –Simple syntax –Relaxed compiler instructions –Free

5. Getting Started with Perl The shebang line Creating a simple Perl script

6. Scalar and Numerical Variables Assignment Expressions

7. String Variables Second type of scalar variable The print function

8. Retrieving Data from STDIN The chomp() function

9. Summary Describe the benefits of Perl Explain the role of the Perl interpreter Identify the characteristics of Perl’s basic syntax Describe the use of the print function Create and execute a simple Perl script Define scalar variables Use scalar variables to manipulate numerical and string data Use expression operators Retrieve data from STDIN

10. Copyright © 2003 ProsoftTraining. All rights reserved. Lesson 2: Flow Control in Perl

11. Objectives Evaluate Boolean expressions Construct an if statement Discuss else and elsif branches Construct a while loop, a do {} while loop, and a for loop Use loop-control commands Describe the I/O redirection paradigm

12. Boolean Expressions in Perl Numeric Boolean expressions String Boolean expressions Logical operators

13. The if Statement The else branch The elsif branch

14. The while Statement Second type of control structure Defines a block of code that will be executed repeatedly as long as some Boolean expression evaluates as true

15. The do { } while Statement Similar to the while loop except that the condition is not evaluated until the code block has already been executed once

16. The for Statement Includes three expressions separated by semicolons Incorporates facilities for initializing a counter and incrementing it on each turn through the code block

17. Loop-Control Commands last next redo

18. I/O Redirection Many Perl scripts use I/O redirection in place of more complicated file-handling subroutines

19. Summary Evaluate Boolean expressions Construct an if statement Discuss else and elsif branches Construct a while loop, a do {} while loop, and a for loop Use loop-control commands Describe the I/O redirection paradigm

20. Copyright © 2003 ProsoftTraining. All rights reserved. Lesson 3: Regular Expressions in Perl

21. Objectives Define regular expressions Perform pattern matching Define and use metacharacters, quantifiers and assertions Explain character classes Perform substitution Use the binding operator

22. Introduction to Regular Expressions Pattern binding operators Escape sequences and metacharacters

23. Character Classes Indicate a list of characters that one element in a string will match

24. Pattern Matching and Substitution Back references

25. Summary Define regular expressions Perform pattern matching Define and use metacharacters, quantifiers and assertions Explain character classes Perform substitution Use the binding operator

26. Copyright © 2003 ProsoftTraining. All rights reserved. Lesson 4: Arrays in Perl

27. Objectives Describe the purpose of arrays Define arrays using lists Access array elements Use the sort function to sort an array alphabetically Use a foreach loop to traverse an array Use the push, pop, shift, unshift, split and join functions

28. Introduction to Perl Arrays Initializing arrays Accessing array elements

29. The sort Function Accepts an array as an argument, alphabetizes the elements within the array, and returns the resultant array

30. The foreach Statement A special control structure designed to iterate through an array or list

31. The push and pop Functions The push function adds values to the top of a stack The pop function removes values from a stack

32. The shift and unshift Functions The unshift function adds a value to the front of an array and shifts the rest of the array by one The shift function removes values from an array Using an array as a queue

33. The split and join Functions The split function accepts two arguments, a regular expression and a string The join function accepts a list of values and combines them into a single string

34. Summary Describe the purpose of arrays Define arrays using lists Access array elements Use the sort function to sort an array alphabetically Use a foreach loop to traverse an array Use the push, pop, shift, unshift, split and join functions

35. Copyright © 2003 ProsoftTraining. All rights reserved. Lesson 5: Hashes in Perl

36. Objectives Describe the purpose of hashes Define hashes using lists Access hash elements Use the delete, keys, values, each, and reverse functions

37. Introduction to Perl Hashes Hashes are collections of scalar values that can be accessed individually Hash elements are accessed using an arbitrary scalar value, called a key Also known as associative arrays

38. Adding and Deleting Hash Elements The delete function The keys function The values function The each function The reverse function

39. Summary Describe the purpose of hashes Define hashes using lists Access hash elements Use the delete, keys, values, each, and reverse functions

40. Copyright © 2003 ProsoftTraining. All rights reserved. Lesson 6: Subroutines in Perl

41. Objectives Define and use a subroutine Call subroutines directly and indirectly Pass values to a subroutine Pass references to a subroutine Explain variable scope Return a value from a subroutine

42. Introduction to Perl Subroutines Defining subroutines Calling subroutines Passing arguments Returning values The sort function and subroutines

43. Variable Scope Variables can be created within subroutines that are private (specific) to just that subroutine using the my operator –The my operator takes a scalar, array, or hash name and instantiates local versions inside a subroutine

44. References Creating and referencing anonymous arrays Creating and referencing anonymous hashes Passing references to subroutines

45. Summary Define and use a subroutine Call subroutines directly and indirectly Pass values to a subroutine Pass references to a subroutine Explain variable scope Return a value from a subroutine

46. Copyright © 2003 ProsoftTraining. All rights reserved. Lesson 7: File Input and Output

47. Objectives Define and use filehandles Obtain a filehandle using the open function Output data to a file Close a file using the close function Open a file for reading Use the stat and lstat functions to obtain information about a file

48. Perl File Input and Output What is a filehandle? The open function Outputting data to a file Opening files for reading Other file-related functions Determining information about files The stat and lstat functions

49. Summary Define and use filehandles Obtain a filehandle using the open function Output data to a file Close a file using the close function Open a file for reading Use the stat and lstat functions to obtain information about a file

50. Copyright © 2003 ProsoftTraining. All rights reserved. Lesson 8: Environment Variables and Command Line Arguments

51. Objectives Access and use environment variables Use command line arguments Define options when handling command line arguments

52. Environment Variables What are environment variables? –Shells

53. Command Line Arguments Arguments entered at the command line can be used in Perl programs

54. Summary Access and use environment variables Use command line arguments Define options when handling command line arguments

55. Copyright © 2003 ProsoftTraining. All rights reserved. Lesson 9: Packages and Modules in Perl

56. Objectives Describe the purpose of packages Use the package keyword Use BEGIN and END blocks Describe the purpose of modules Create a module to facilitate code reuse Incorporate a module into your Perl scripts using the use and require statements Use the Exporter module

57. Using Packages in Perl Namespace The package keyword Package symbol tables

58. BEGIN and END Blocks Special blocks of code defined within a package

59. Using Modules in Perl Specially designed Perl scripts that package functionality for reuse by other Perl scripts

60. The use and require Statements The require statement takes a single argument (the name of the module to include) The use statement adds symbols directly to the including package’s symbol table

61. Summary Describe the purpose of packages Use the package keyword Use BEGIN and END blocks Describe the purpose of modules Create a module to facilitate code reuse Incorporate a module into your Perl scripts using the use and require statements Use the Exporter module

62. Copyright © 2003 ProsoftTraining. All rights reserved. Lesson 10: Object-Oriented Perl

63. Objectives Describe the purpose of objects Define objects for use in your Perl scripts Access object data Define and use object methods Use inheritance to expand the functionality of a class

64. Introduction to Object-Oriented Perl Creating objects Object data Object methods

65. Inheritance @ISA array Destructor methods

66. Summary Describe the purpose of objects Define objects for use in your Perl scripts Access object data Define and use object methods Use inheritance to expand the functionality of a class

67. Copyright © 2003 ProsoftTraining. All rights reserved. Lesson 11: Database Connectivity and Perl

68. Objectives Define database programming Explain the benefits of using a database Define and use the DBI, the DBD, and SQL Open a database connection Query a database Return records from a database Insert records into a database Close a connection to a database

69. Introduction to Database Connectivity Database programming Database Interface Module Database Driver Module

70. Interacting with Databases 1. Connect to the database 2. Query the database 3. Display the results 4. Close the connection

71. Connecting to Databases The connect method

72. Structured Query Language Data Definition Language –CREATE –DROP Data Query Language Data Manipulation Language –INSERT –DELETE –UPDATE

73. Quoting Operators Perl includes quoting operators that can be used instead of single or double quotation marks

74. Summary Define database programming Explain the benefits of using a database Define and use the DBI, the DBD, and SQL Open a database connection Query a database Return records from a database Insert records into a database Close a connection to a database

75. Copyright © 2003 ProsoftTraining. All rights reserved. Lesson 12: Debugging Perl Programs

76. Objectives Debug Perl programs Use the –w switch Use the strict module Issue commands to the Perl debugger Trace the execution of a Perl script Design Perl scripts to minimize bugs

77. Introduction to Debugging Perl Scripts Using the print command Using the –w switch Using the strict module

78. The Perl Debugger Traps and fixes errors in a Perl script An interactive Perl environment wherein the user is prompted for debugger commands

79. Writing Bug-Free Perl Code Preventing errors Common Perl errors

80. Summary Debug Perl programs Use the –w switch Use the strict module Issue commands to the Perl debugger Trace the execution of a Perl script Design Perl scripts to minimize bugs

81. Perl Fundamentals Introduction to Perl Flow Control in Perl Regular Expressions in Perl Arrays in Perl Hashes in Perl Subroutines in Perl File Input and Output in Perl

82. Perl Fundamentals Environment Variables and Command Line Arguments Packages and Modules in Perl Object-Oriented Perl Database Connectivity and Perl Debugging Perl Programs