in reply to Perl CGI and books
CGI is a protocol to allow executable programs to be run and spit out a web page. You can run Java, C, C++, Python, PHP, COBOL, FORTAN, LISP, Assembler, and whatever other language you know as a CGI program. (Although some languages are better for the purpose then others, and some languages (like PHP and Java (JSP)) have built in server site scripting, so you don't need to run them as a CGI program)
If I were you I would seriously consider cancelling your order and getting a subscription to Safari. It'll probably be cheaper, and if you don't like a book or you think you've read enough about something already, you can just skip it.
Also, all CGI.pm does is provide functions to spit out HTML. You should make sure that your HTML and Perl (and CSS) is strong, and then you should work with the basics of CGI programs. Roll your own without using CGI.pm as a learning tool, and then try using it, and learn the strengths and weaknesses. (For instance, a lot of nested tables can make CGI.pm code look like an obfu. However, if you know some CSS you won't need to nest tables (unless you're targeting non CSS compliant browsers)). Also, check out HTML::Template
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