Perl Toolbox

A site for Perl programming innovations

Perl Training Syllabus

 
NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED WILL TRAIN
 
For corporate training enquiries, please contact Shaji Kalidasan <shajiindia@yahoo.com>
 

This 50 hours instructor-led course provides essential knowledge to enable students to understand Perl programming from the ground-up. It covers Perl from basics to advanced level with hands-on exercises at the end of each session to test your skills and competency on the language. This course covers the most recent stable Perl version 5.22.1 (released on December 13, 2015)

Objective

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

• Write scripts that create and change scalar variables
• Use control structures to branch or loop
• Use arthimetic operators, assignment operators, logical operators, conditional operator, range operator
• Create and change array variables
• Create and change hash variables
• Generate random number, formatting data, currency,time,eval and pack
• Read files supplied on the command line, and search the files for specific text patterns
• Execute regular expression tests, and recognize backwards referencing.
• Understand Perl's powerful regular expression capabilities and how to apply them to your problem
• How to create, dereference and use references to build complex data structures which allow multi-dimensional arrays and hashes.
• Read and write files and system processes using file handles
• Create, remove, and change directory and file properties
• Create Perl subroutines, packages, and modules and use public modules
• Create references and object oriented code
• Understand basic tests, subtests and other testing modules
• Debug Perl scripts
• Perform code coverage
• Understand partial evaluation operators
• Understand useful modules
• Understand document structure
• Perform smart matching and given when statements
• Work with XML (DOM & SAX)
• Work with MySQL or similar database
• Create real-world administration scripts
• Create CGI scripts
• Understand how bits and pieces work together
• Work on 1 Mini Project

Overview

The Perl Programming course is a comprehensive course that explains the Perl programming language, from basic through advanced syntax. This course is aimed at a wide range of people - programmers, developers, system administrators, web authors, and operators. It explains how to use the Perl programming language to write quick yet powerful scripts to take advantage of Perl's system administration capabilities and issue Perl commands.

Who can benefit

Students who can benefit from this course are developers, system administrators and web administrators, although Perl is a language for everyone. The course is taught on Windows platform however the material is suitable for any operating system (for example Sun Solaris, Red Hat Linux, IBM AIX, HP-UX and so on)

Audience

This course is intended for the following:

• This advanced course is appropriate for basic to experienced Programmers / Developers, System administrators who want to write Perl on any OS and to further automate tasks and routines.

Prerequisites

To succeed fully in this course, students should be able to:

• Use basic OS commands such as rm, cp, more, mkdir, and chmod (or be able to learn these quickly during the course)
• Create and edit text files in vi or another available text editor
• Exposure to any other programming language (C, C++, BASIC, Fortran, Java, Pascal, Shell...) and shell programming skills (Bourne / Korn) are a large advantage, although not essential

Teaching Strategies

A variety of teaching strategies may be utilized in this course, including but not limited to, lecture, discussion, written classroom exercises, written lab exercises, performance based lab exercises, demonstrations, quizzes and examinations. Some quizzes may be entirely or contain lab based components. Three mid-course and one end course examination will be given.

Course Outline

Total : 50 hours

Introduction To The Perl Programming Language

• Determine your version of Perl
• Identify the default directories searched for Perl library files
• Create a command-line script that prints a simple message
• Create a simple script that prints a simple message
• Test a script's syntax without executing the script
• Using an eclipse IDE to run your Perl script

Perl Development Using Eclipse

• Features of the Perl Plugin
• Creating a Perl Project
• Running a Perl Program
• Preferences - EPIC
• Preferences - Editor
• Preferences - Content Assist
• Preferences - Folding
• Preferences - Mark Occurrences
• Preferences - Templates
• Templates
• Preferences - Source Formatter
• Preferences - Task Tags
• Accessing Perl Documentation
• Project Properties
• Testing Regular Expressions

Debugging

• Using the Built-in Perl Debugger
• Starting the Debugger
• Debugger Command Syntax
• Checking for Script Syntax Errors
• Solving Compile-Time Errors
• Single-Stepping through a Script
• Executing to Breakpoints
• Setting Global Watches
• Printing Values of Variables
• Listing All Variables Used in the Script
• Using Strict Error Checking
• Highlight updated variables
• Show addresses of variables
• Show Perl Internal Variables
• Show Global Variables
• Show Local Variables
• Quitting the Debugger

Scalars

• Define and describe numeric and string scalar data
• Create string and numeric scalar variables
• Modify scalar variables using operators
• Print scalar values using single and double quotes
• Remove \n from user input using the chomp command
• Calculate a value using scalar operators based on user input
• Define uses and operation of the Perl interpreter, including but not limited to: basic scripting, print function, variables.

Control Structures

• Print a message using an if statement
• Print a message using an if/else statement
• Print a message using a compound if/elsif/else statement
• Use a for loop to display a list numbers
• Use a foreach loop to perform calculations on a list of numbers
• Use while loops to repeatedly perform logical tests using an if/elsif/else statement
• Print formatted text with a Here document
• Exit from a loop using loop controls and statement modifiers
• Use a switch construct in Perl to print a message
• Use smart match operator

Arrays

• Create an array variable and assign scalar values to the array
• Determine the length of an array using an array operator
• Use array slices to assign new values to an array
• Determine the length of an array using a scalar variable
• Reverse the contents of an array
• Array as Stack
• Array as Queue
• Array as Linked List
• Sort an array in lexicographical order
• Sort an array of numbers in ascending and descending order
• Create an array from a scalar using split
• Process the values passed in the command-line array, @ARGV
• Read and write an array into a text file
• Use splice to dynamically add and remove elements anywhere
• Sorting arrays
• Writing array to a file

Hashes

• Print a hash using a foreach statement
• Access, add, and delete keys and values from a hash
• Print a hash using a while loop and the each function
• Determine the number of occurrences of a string in an array using a hash
• Determine if a key and value exist in a hash
• Writing and reading a hash to a file
• Removing (deleting) all elements of a hash at once
• The ENV hash
• Sorting keys in a hash
• Sorting values in a hash

Perl functions, strings and sorting

• Random number generation
• Formating data
• Formating currency
• Handling time
• The eval function
• Warn and die functions
• Packing strings
• Finding a substring with index
• Manipulating a substring with substr
• Formating data with sprintf
• Advanced sorting
• Sorting by multiple Keys
• Using Array slice, Hash slice
• More advanced error handling
• Picking items from a list with grep
• Transforming items from a list with map

Regular Expressions

• Test for a word or phrase in a file using regular expressions
• Using flip flop operator to extract a range of lines
• Use Unicode properties
• Use Metacharacters
• Use simple quantifiers
• Grouping in patterns
• Use anchors and character classes in regular expressions
• Character class shortcuts
• Negating the shortcuts
• Use alternation in regular expressions
• Matching with m//
• Case insensitive matching, matching any character, adding whitespace
• Combining option modifiers
• Use variable interpolation to define regular expressions
• Binding operator
• Extract parts of strings using regular expressions
• Use binding operator
• Use substitutions with s///
• Use transliterations with tr///
• Greedy and non greedy (lazy) matches
• Named subexpressions aka Named captures
• Positive Lookahead anchors
• Negative Lookahead anchors
• Positive Lookbehind anchors
• Negative Lookbehind anchors
• Matching multiple line texts
• Updating many files
• In-Place editing from the command line
• Writing your own pattern test program

Filehandles and Files

• Use the <> operator to read a file specified on the command line, line-by-line
• Use the printf command to format the output of the script
• Using the predefined file handles such as STDIN, STDOUT, STDERR, DATA, ARGV, ARGVOUT
• Passing filehandles to subroutines
• Use filehandles to open a file for read, write and append
• Use die to display an error message if there is an error accessing a file
• Append data to the end of a file
• Using select
• Reading character by character from a file
• Reading a binary file
• Use seek, tell, flock and eof
• Stripping or adding carriage returns from DOS to Unix and back again.
• Use a filehandle to read the output of a program
• Autodie

Subroutines

• Create script that uses the strict pragma
• Create subroutines that accept passed parameters and return desired results based on the values passed
• Include a subroutine that uses the my operator to create private variables
• Pass file handles to subroutines
• Argument handling
• Multiple arguments
• Named arguments
• Aliasing
• Passing a list, hash or hashref?
• Returning data
• Returning true/false
• Returning single and multiple values
• Wantarray
• Existing subroutines
• Anonymous subroutines
• Closures
• Prototypes
• Argument coercion
• More prototype tricks
• Mimicking built-ins
• Forward declarations
• Recursion
• Write a menu driven program to demonstrate the usage of subroutines and hashes

Packages and Modules

• Use a Perl library file in your script
• Use a Perl package in your script
• Create a Perl module and call it from a script
• Use packages and modules to organize, reuse and export program code.
• Use vs Require
• Version numbers
• Package variables
• Finding modules
• Installing modules
• Using only some functions from a module
• Subroutines in other packages
• Exporting
• Naming conventions
• BEGIN blocks
• END blocks
• INIT, CHECK, and UNITCHECK Blocks
• Reporting errors within modules
• Carp function
• Cluck function
• Croak function
• Confess function

File and Directory Operations

• Use file operators to determine the characteristics of a file
• Display the contents of a directory using chdir and globbing
• Display the contents of a directory using directory handles such as opendir, readdir, telldir, seekdir, rewinddir, chdir, mkdir and rmdir
• Rename and unlink files
• Create symbolic links to files
• Display all symbolic links in a directory
• Set file permissions for files based on their extensions

References and Complex Data Structures

• Introduction to references
• Use Scalar references
• Use Array references
• Use Hash references
• Passing by value and passing by reference
• Using anonymous arrays and hashes
• Array of hashes
• Hashes of arrays
• Anonymous array of anonymous hashes
• Array of anonymous hashes
• Hash of anonymous arrays
• Hash of anonymous hashes
• Hashes of hashes
• Array of anonymous arrays (retrieving columns)
• Array of anonymous arrays (retrieving rows)
• Using complex data structures
• Insert column to matrix
• Append column to matrix
• Insert row to matrix
• Append row to matrix

Testing

• Basic tests
• Using Test::More
• Write your own tests
• Understanding the prove utility
• Understanding Test::More test functions
• Using ok
• Using is
• Using like
• Using is_deeply
• Using SKIP
• Using TODO
• Using eval{}
• Using use_ok and require_ok
• Working with miscellaneous test functions
• Using other testing modules
• End testing on failure
• Using die_on_fail/restore_fail
• Using bail_on_fail
• Using Test::Differences
• Using Test::Exception
• Using Test::Warn
• Using Test::Most
• Using Test::Class
• A basic Test class
• Extending a test class
• Using test control methods
• Calling Parent test control methods

Code coverage

• Using Devel Cover for Code Coverage
• Statement coverage
• Branch coverage
• Path coverage
• Condition coverage
• Using Perl Critic
• Using Perl Tidy
• Profiling

POD and CPAN

• Creating POD
• Documentation structure
• Headings
• Paragraphs
• Lists
• Verbatim
• Miscellaneous
• Finding and evaluating modules
• Downloading CPAN modules
• Creating your own CPAN module
• Using PPM
• Documenting your module

Object Oriented Programming

• Introduction to Object Oriented Programming
• Introduction to method invocation arrow
• The extra parameter of method invocation
• @ISA
• Overriding the methods
• Super way of doing things
• Introducing bless
• Objects with data
• Invoking an instance
• Accessing instance data
• Accessing class data
• Inheriting the constructor
• Making a method work with either classes or instances
• Getters and setters
• Object destruction
• Cleaning up
• Nested object destruction
• Using class variables
• UNIVERSAL methods
• AUTOLOAD as a last resort
• Creating private subroutines

Report Writing

• The Template
• Steps in defining the template
• Changing the file handle
• Top of page formatting
• Formating text (Left, Centered, Right, Numeric, Decimal Point)
• The select function
• Multli line fields
• Filling fields
• Dynamic report writing

Common Tasks

• Using CSV data
• Reading CSV data
• Writing CSV data
• Reading data from an Excel file
• Writing data to an Excel file
• Handling dates
• Using DateTime module
• Using Date::Tiny
• Using DateTime::Tiny
• File::Find
• File::Path
• File::Find::Rule
• Using Log::Log4Perl to record your program state

Database Operations

• Introduction to database
• Architecture of the DBI application
• Connect to the database using DBI
• Using DBD::mysql
• Perform basic operations such as create, select, update, insert and delete
• Read data using array
• Read data using array reference
• Read data using hash reference
• Using Bind parameters
• Use commit
• Define database programming, including but not limited to: use of modules and SQL to access external data.
• Handling errors
• Disconnect from the database

XML

• Difference between HTML and XML
• XML Basics
• XML elements vs attributes
• XML Schemas and DTD
• Use XML::Simple
• Working with DOM (Document Object Model)
• Working with SAX (Simple API for XML)
• Reading an XML document using XML::Simple
• Converting specific XML elements into upper case/lower case
• Navigating the DOM tree and count the number of elements
• Read a specific attribute from a DOM tree
• Using a SAX parser to read and manipulate a XML document
• Check whether an XML is well formed or not
• Converting data structures into XML

CGI Programming

• An introduction to CGI and its environment
• Understand how the server and browser communicate
• Send a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) page to a browser using a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) script
• Decoding data sent to your CGI programs
• Using environment variables in your programs
• Use a Here document in a CGI script to send an HTML page to a browser
• Read an HTML form using the GET or POST method
• Read an HTML form with radiobuttons and checkboxes
• Read an HTML form using textarea and drop down menu
• Use CGI to display date and time on a web page
• Use CGI to display hit counter to a web page
• Write a discount calculator app for a product
• Write a simple music download app using password authentication
• Read HTML5 email, URL and phone controls
• Read HTML5 number and range controls
• Read HTML5 date field
• Validating mobile phone fields in a HTML5 form using regular expression
• Validating and submitting an HTML5 enquiry form using regular expression
• Storing HTML5 enquiry form data in a flat file
• Storing HTML5 feedback form data in a flat file
• Storing HTML5 feedback form data in a database

Process Management

• System functions
• Exec functions
• Back quotes
• Fork
• Signals

Multithreading

• What is a thread anyway?
• Threaded program models
• Boss/Worker
• Work Crew
• Pipeline
• Native Threads
• Thread basics
• Basic Thread Support
• Creating Threads
• Giving up control
• Waiting for a thread to exit
• Errors in threads
• Ignoring a thread
• Threads and data
• Shared and unshared data
• Thread pitfalls : Races
• Controlling access : lock()
• Thread pitfalls : Deadlocks
• Queues : Passing data around
• Threads and code
• Semaphores : Synchronizing data access
• Attributes : Restricting access to subroutines
• Subroutines locks
• Methods
• Locking a subroutine
• What thread am I in?
• Thread IDs
• Are these threads are same?
• What threads are running?

Sockets

• What is a socket?
• Socket programming in Perl
• Types of sockets
• Create a socket
• Connect to remote server
• Send data
• Receive reply
• Understand the steps for making a server
• Asynchronous IO

Introduction to Perl 5.20 and its features

• Features of Modern Perl (Perl Version 5.10, Perl 5.12, Perl 5.14, Perl 5.16 and Perl 5.18)
• What's new in Perl 5.20
• Path forward

Mini Projects

• Mini project 1
• Mini project 2
• Mini project 3
• Mini project 4
• Mini project 5

Credits | Disclaimer | Maintained by Shaji Kalidasan | Other Networks : www.codeinside.com