Showing Jedediah Hotchkiss: Rebel Mapmaker and Virginia Businessman by Peter W Roper

The Web browser is a wonderful tool and has opened up the Internet to a massive number of people the world over. It's graphical, easy to use and can be used for a wide range of tasks including file transfer, client-side processing and more.

And sometimes it's just not enough. Think hard for a moment or two and there's bound to be situations where it's not possible to make Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator do exactly what's required, but what can you do to fix that situation? Simple, write your own Web client.

It might seem like a daunting task, but thanks to clear and accurate instruction Web client Programming with Perl pulls out all the stops to examine the short-cuts and pitfalls of using this useful scripting language to gain more control over client-server operations.

Delving deep into subjects such as the format of the HTTP protocol, socket programming and the custom written LWP Perl libraries (which contain a comprehensive array of pre-written web-friendly utilities), author Clinton Wong unfolds the "mystery" surrounding the subject and presents a measured and ultimately invaluable guide to what can be a tricky subject.

With a chapter on adding GUIs to your creations using Tk and comprehensive appendices on a wide variety of subjects this book should be on the shelf of any Perl programmer and web scripter.