Email the Author
You can use this page to email Dave Cross about Data Munging With Perl [2ed].
About the Book
This is a "work in progress" release of the second edition of Data Munging With Perl. Over the coming weeks, I'll release updates to this book, which you will be able to access (for no extra charge) from your LeanPub library. That way, I get the support of early adopters and you can see the new edition taking shape in front of your eyes.
Your desktop dictionary may not include it, but 'munging' is a common term in the programmer’s world. Many computing tasks require taking data from one computer system, manipulating it in some way, and passing it to another. Munging can mean manipulating raw data to achieve a final form. It can mean parsing or filtering data, or the many steps required for data recognition. Or it can be something as simple as converting hours worked plus pay rates into a salary cheque.
This book shows you how to process data productively with Perl. It discusses general munging techniques and how to think about data munging problems. You will learn how to decouple the various stages of munging programs, how to design data structures, how to emulate the Unix filter model, etc. If you need to work with complex data formats it will teach you how to do that and also how to build your own tools to process these formats. The book includes detailed techniques for processing HTML and XML. And, it shows you how to build your own parsers to process data of arbitrary complexity.
If you are a programmer who munges data, this book will save you time. It will teach you systematic and powerful techniques using Perl. If you are not a Perl programmer, this book may just convince you to add Perl to your repertoire.
About the Author
Dave Cross has been programming professionally since 1988 and using Perl since 1996. In that time he has used Perl as a glue language, for web development and as a general-purpose programming language. He is the author of Data Munging with Perl (Manning, 2001) and a co-author of Perl Template Toolkit (O’Reilly, 2003). He has also written articles about Perl for The Perl Journal and Linux Format.
Dave has run training courses on Perl since 2001. He has run in-house courses for companies ranging from investment banks to dotcoms and he regularly runs public courses in London. He is often invited to give training courses alongside open source conferences like the UKUUG Spring Conference and the London Perl Workshop. He is a regular speaker at both Perl and open source conferences.
Dave has been heavily involved in the Perl community for many years. In 1998, he founded the London Perl Mongers, the first Perl Users’ Group in Europe and he lead the group for its first four years. He then became the International User Groups Co-ordinator for the Perl Foundation. In 2004 he was awarded a White Camel award for his services to the Perl community.
Dave owns and runs Magnum Solutions, an open source development consultancy based in London. The rumours about the gold-plated cats were never true.