School of Library and Information Science
Indiana University
Summer I 1998
L595 Perl Workshop
June 6th and 7th
Instructor: Uta Priss
Email: upriss@indiana.edu
Office: 022 SLIS
Office phone: 812-855-2793
Office hours: Wednesday June 10th, 2.00 - 3.00
Introduction
Perl is a programming language which combines some of the
features of UNIX and C. It facilitates the processing of large
text files, such as database records. It is therefore potentially useful
for information or social scientists who want to manage or research large
amounts of data. For example, files can be downloaded from the Internet
and searched for certain patterns, database records can be transformed
from one format into another, programming code can be translated from
one language into the other, and so on. Furthermore, many CGI applications
on the Internet involve automated data manipulation which can be
handled by a Perl script.
This one credit hour hands-on workshop provides the students the opportunity to
learn how Perl can be used to manipulate textual data in a flexible manner.
Small sample applications will be used to teach the basic Perl concepts.
After completion of the workshop the students should have enough skills
to apply Perl to larger, real-world applications.
Note
This workshop overlaps with
L575-Introduction to Computer Programming for Text Management
and cannot be taken for credit with L575.
Prerequisites
Basic Unix literacy, i.e.
the ability to create, edit, move, delete files and directories in a
Unix environment. L401 or an equivalent class should be sufficient.
Course Objectives
This course teaches the students
- to use the basic features of the programming language Perl
- to write Perl scripts for textual data manipulation
- to understand the use of Perl for CGI
Readings
Several Perl tutorials are online available. Nik Silver's tutorial
(at
http://agora.leeds.ac.uk/Perl/start.html) will be used as a
text for this workshop.
Requirements and Grading
The final course grade will be computed for each student on the basis
of grades assigned for the following:
| Assignment | 1/2
|
| Final Exam | 1/2
|
Attendance of all sections is required!
The assignment will be handed out during the second class session and
is due at the beginning of the third class session. The final exam
will be handed out during the last class session and is due one week
after the last session.
Team work is not acceptable for the assignment or the final exam.
Each student is expected to complete all course work by the end of the term.
A grade of incomplete (I) will be assigned only if exceptional
circumstances warrant.
Class Schedule
Session: 1. Introduction
"Hello World": A basic Perl program
Variables and operators
Executing and debugging a Perl program
Session: 2. Control structures and conditionals
Filehandling
Control structures: for, while, until, foreach, if, then
Assignment handed out. It is due Monday June 15th, 12.00pm.
Session: 3. String matching and substitution
Regular expressions
Substitution and translation
Session: 4. Perl and CGI
Perl and CGI
Final exam handed out. It is due 168 hours after session 4 finishes.
(Monday June 15th, 12.00pm)