Scripting with Objects

Object-Oriented scripting with Perl and Python

Scripting languages are becoming increasingly important forsoftware development. These higher-level languages, with theirbuilt-in easy-to-use data structures are convenient for programmersto use as "glue" languages for assembling multi-languageapplications and for quick prototyping of software architectures.
Scripting languages are also used extensively in Web-basedapplications. Based on the same overall philosophy that madeProgramming with Objects such a wide success, Scripting withObjects takes a novel dual-language approach to learning advancedscripting with Perl and Python, the dominant languages of thegenre. This method of comparing basic syntax and writingapplication-level scripts is designed to give readers a morecomprehensive and expansive perspective on the subject.

Beginning with an overview of the importance of scriptinglanguages--and how they differ from mainstream systemsprogramming languages--the book explores:
* Regular expressions for string processing
* The notion of a class in Perl and Python
* Inheritance and polymorphism in Perl and Python
* Handling exceptions
* Abstract classes and methods in Perl and Python
* Weak references for memory management
* Scripting for graphical user interfaces
* Multithreaded scripting
* Scripting for network programming
* Interacting with databases
* Processing XML with Perl and Python

This book serves as an excellent textbook for a one-semesterundergraduate course on advanced scripting in which the studentshave some prior experience using Perl and Python, or for atwo-semester course for students who will be experiencing scriptingfor the first time. Scripting with Objects is also an idealresource for industry professionals who are making the transitionfrom Perl to Python, or vice versa.