If you needed another reason to love Perl, it’s got to be the DBI. DBI stands for DataBase Interface. Basically, the DBI allows a developer to access a nonspecific database type, as well as perform database functions within Perl code.

Because of the DBI, major corporations have brought their disparate databases into sync with one another through the glue-that-holds-the-Internet-together: Perl.

This book, Programming the Perl DBI by Alligator Descartes and Tim Bunce (the creator of the Perl DBI), covers just about everything you’d need to know to start writing Perl programs with database capabilities (even if your database happens to be, say, a flat file).

My only complaint is a lack of support for OODBs, but that’s not a problem with the book, but a lack of a compatible DBIx:: driver.

I found this book useful and informative, and would recommend it to any person looking for a simple solution to connect, unite, or just use the many databases they may need to access on a daily basis, for work, play, or otherwise. Highly recommended! ( )