I bought the
second edition of this book because I knew a little about Perl but nothing about CGI programming for the Web. I found it excellent, and liked the way it recommended and explained how to install a local Windows server on which to test scripts. Yeah, I already knew html, but lots of people don't and it is a
beginners book.
The second edition appears to address the issues in ovid's review; CGI.pm, -wT etc. A whole chapter (admittedly not many pages, but it's a start) is devoted to security, and also points the reader to suitable sources for security information.
Sure, there are faults in the book, but the point is that it's an easy read and gets the job done - not perfectly, but it can be improved later. It's a Quick Start - it doesn't claim to be the definitive teach yourself Perl or Web Techniques.
