I don’t like JavaScript. I prefer server-side technologies because they give a confidence in the correct work on any client PC. You cannot have the same confidence with JavaScript functionality. It has dependences on browser type, set browser options and many others conditions on the client-side. Hovewer, web 2.0 brought the modern realisation of client technology based on JavaScript – Ajax. Using Ajax it’s possible to develop an user-friendly web interface which is a standart de-facto now. I also started to study and test Ajax. There are many Ajax frameworks for the good-known programming languages, including Perl. The main goal of PerlAjax (CGI::Ajax) is to provide an easy way to create Perl Ajax applications without JavaScript coding.
The big disadvantage (IMHO) of CGI::Ajax is an orientation to the pure CGI. But it’s difficult or probably impossible to use this module together with Perl web site development and delivery engines such Embperl or Mason. Hovewer, there are a bunch of JavaScript Ajax frameworks which can be integrated with them. One of those ones is a Prototype. Its development is driven heavily by the Ruby on Rails framework, but it can be used in any environment. Here is a control for Mason which uses Prototype. In case of Embperl it’s needed some JavaSCript coding to bring Ajax power in the web application. But it’s not so big.
2 thoughts on “Web, Perl and Ajax”