Pro Perl Debugging

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

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2. Introduction

   Pages 1-6

3. Inspecting Variables and Getting Help

   Pages 7-19

4. Controlling Program Execution

   Pages 21-38

5. Debugging a Simple Command Line Program

   Pages 39-64

6. Tracing Execution

   Pages 65-78

7. Debugging Modules

   Pages 79-102

8. Debugging Object-Oriented Perl

   Pages 103-117

9. Using the Debugger As a Shell

   Pages 119-129

10. Debugging a CGI Program

    Pages 131-152

11. Perl Threads and Forked Processes

    Pages 153-173

12. Debugging Regular Expressions

    Pages 175-194

13. Debugger Customization

    Pages 195-209

14. Optimization and Performance Hints and Tips

    Pages 211-230

15. Command Line and GUI Debuggers

    Pages 231-237

16. Comprehensive Command Reference

    Pages 239-254

17. Book References and URLs

    Pages 255-258

18. Back Matter

    Pages 259-269

    PDF

Combining the best features of C, UNIX utilities, and regular expressions, Perl has grown as one of the most powerful and popular scripting languages. The valuable Perl is often used for system administration, text processing and Web programming. It is even being used for more exotic areas, like bioinformatics. Perl is supported by all of the most prominent operating systems, including Windows, Unix, OS/2, Amiga, and others.

Pro Perl Debugging steps in to help resolve the dilemma of application testing and debugging—one of the biggest time commitments in a programmers daily routine. What this book will do is rescue you from substandard application testing practices. The book commences with several chapters that overview the debuggers basic features, then covers common debugging scenarios. The concluding portion examines debugger customization, alternative debugging utilities, and debugging best practices.

• Debugging
• UNIX
• Windows
• language
• operating system
• optimization
• programming
• regular expressions
• testing

Andy Lester has been a professional programmer for 19 years and Perl evangelist for a decade. As one of the core Perl developers, Andy's interests in Perl focus on quality assurance. He maintains eight testing modules on the CPAN, as well as the Perl QA Web site. Andy is a frequent speaker at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention, YAPC and Perl Monger meetings around the country. He's spoken on a variety of programming topics including automated testing, Perl security, Web agent automation, project management and effective job searching for programmers. Andy has written or edited a dozen books. Three of his articles on his popular WWW::Mechanize module are included in O'Reilly's Spidering Hacks. Andy has also written articles for every single Perl magazine published in the US (all two of them). By day, Andy manages a crack squad of Web programmers for Follett Library Resources in McHenry, Illinois. He lives with his wife, Amy, daughter Quinn, and Baxter, the world's neediest dog.

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