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Posted to embperl@perl.apache.org by Jim Peters <ji...@aguazul.demon.co.uk> on 2000/06/14 11:03:41 UTC
Some positive impressions

I'd just like to share some positive impressions that I've received whilst
working with EmbPerl.  

One of my clients asked me to look into PHP, thinking of setting up SQL
database front-ends, and so on.  Having looked at PHP for some time, I was
not very happy, feeling that I would have to be constantly working around
the language.  However, I was immediately attracted to EmbPerl.  The idea of
leaving the HTML as it was, and surrounding it by [$ $] code-segments was
very appealing, especially as the HTML structure remained visible in a
browser.  Despite all the hype and `compelling reasons' surrounding PHP, I
eventually gave up with it, and started looking deeper into EmbPerl.

I'm very happy I did.  My initial fears about the speed of the
implementation were soon lifted when I discovered that the engine of EmbPerl
is C-coded and independent of most of the rest of the Perl distribution.  I
coded up a simple database application spread over a number of pages using
direct DBI calls, and crude but functional HTML.

I then passed this working application over to my client.  They use
DreamWeaver, and uploaded the DreamWeaver extensions from the
<www.somewhere.com> web-site, and were immediately impressed.  It is very
important for them to be able to manipulate the appearance of the page
without having to constantly involve `technicians' (like myself).  

As a test, they manipulated the page in DreamWeaver as if they were novice
designers, without paying too much attention to the EmbPerl tags (which are
hidden, I understand).  They were impressed by the robustness of this
arrangement.  All but one page survived intact and functioning, and that
last page was easily fixed, and I now know how to avoid that problem in the
future (don't put code in the <head> section!).

So, everyone is impressed and happy with the result.  They are now ready to
move onto bigger projects.  I'm happy too, because I have the full power of
Perl at my disposal to help meet their needs.

Jim

-- 
 Jim Peters         /             __   |  \              Aguazul
                   /   /| /| )| /| / )||   \
 jim@aguazul.      \  (_|(_|(_|(_| )(_|I   /        www.aguazul.
  demon.co.uk       \    ._)     _/       /          demon.co.uk