B336 Readings

Unit Readings

Required Readings

Unit Reader:

New Server Installation, Chapter 1 in Apache Server Administrator's Handbook by Mohammed Kabir, IDG Books, 1999.

Getting Apache Up and Running, Chapter 2 in Apache Server Administrator's Handbook by Mohammed Kabir, IDG Books, 1999.

Web Clients, Chapter 9 in Network Programming with Perl by Lincoln Stein, Addison-Wesley, 2001.

A Simple Web Server, excerpt from "Preforking and Prethreading" Chapter 15 in Network Programming with Perl by Lincoln Stein, Addison-Wesley, 2001.

Introducing XML, Chapter 1 in Professional XML (2nd Edition) by Mark Birbeck et al, Wrox Press, 2001.

Creating Well-Formed XML Documents, Chapter 2 in Inside XML by Steven Holzner, New Riders Publishing, 2001.

Valid XML Documents: Creating Document Type Definitions, Chapter 3 in Inside XML by Steven Holzner, New Riders Publishings, 2001.

Introducing XML Schema, Chapter 6 in Professional XML (2nd Edition) by Mark Birbeck et al, Wrox Press, 2001.

XSLT and XPath, Chapter 4 in Begininng XML by David Hunter et al, Wrox Press, 2000.

XSLT - The Gory Details, Chapter 5 in Begininng XML by David Hunter et al, Wrox Press, 2000.

Processing XML, Chapter 19 in XML Black Book (2nd Edition) by Natanya Pitts, Coriolis Group, 2001.

The Components of a Total XML Solution, Chapter 20 in XML Black Book (2nd Edition) by Natanya Pitts, Coriolis Group, 2001.

WAP White Paper - also available online at the WAP Forum.
Addition A to the Unit Reader: Web Servers, Chapter 4 in Web Protocols and Practice by Balachander Krishnamurthy & Jennifer Rexford, Addision-Wesley, 2001 - available from Murdoch University main library Closed Reserved section

Online Readings:

Web Server Basics from webcompare.internet.com

PHP online tutorial from zend.com

ASP online tutorial from w3schools.com

Online WAP tutorial using Nokia's Toolkit, from webreference.com.

Online Specifications (only for references when doing implementations - if you find yourself reading them from cover to cover for no reason, you probably should try and get a life):

Apache server documentation from your own installation, or from the official Apache site.

Perl documentation from ActivePerl on your local machine, or from the official ActiveState site.

Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Second Edition) - W3C Recommendation 6 October 2000

XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 1.0 - W3C Recommendation 16 November 1999

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 1 Specification Version 1.0 - W3C Recommendation 1 October, 1998

XML::DOM - A perl module for building DOM Level 1 compliant document structures

XML::Parser - A perl module for parsing XML documents

XML::Parser::PerlSAX - Perl SAX parser using XML::Parser

Official PHP manual

Microsoft's ASP documentation and official ASP.NET references

WML and WMLScript Specifications - from the WAP Forum.

Optional Recommended Readings

Books:

Network Programming with Perl by Lincoln Stein, Addison-Wesley, 2001.

Java Network Programming by Merlin Hughes et al, Manning Publications, 1999.

XML Black Book (2nd Edition) by Natanya Pitts, Coriolis, 2001 - good technical introduction to concepts, but do not have enough details to do hands-on implementations.

Inside XML by Steven Holzner, New Riders, 2001 - contains technical implementation details to do programming work.

Professional XML (2nd Edition) by Mark Birbeck et al, Wrox Press, 2001 - an good advanced book for implementing XML technologies. Not for beginners.

Programming Perl (3rd Edition) by Larry Wall et al, O'Reilly, 2000 - written by the original creator of Perl. Definitive and very complete book, but do not cover the modules like HTTP and XML which we use in this unit.

Learning Perl (2nd Edition) by Randal L. Schwartz et al, O'Reilly, 1997 - not as complete as Larry Wall's one, but still quite extensive and written by a recognized guru. Perhaps more appropriate for a start-out Perl programmer to read.

PHP and ASP recommended books to come...
For those who took B211 Internet Computing in 2001, you will also find your B211 textbook Web Programming: Building Internet Applications by Chris Bates (Wiley, 2000) to be useful. You can use it for reference to Perl programming, although the material in there are only introductory. There is also introductions to XML and associated technologies in the textbook, that you can use to supplement your official readings as outline in the schedule.

Magazines available at Perth newsagents:

Web Techniques

Online Tutorials and other interesting stuff:

W3Schools Online Web Tutorials - definitely worth a look for all web development self-learners.

Web Developer's Virtual Library

Webmonkey - the Web Developer's Resource

XML.com

Cute Tricks with Perl and Apache

too many to list...

Online References:

Documentation at CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network).

Technical specifications at W3C (the World Wide Web Consortium).

WAP Forum web site.

Notes:

I can't even begin to claim that the recommended list above is complete. They are the most appropriate material as far as I am aware. I am sure in your travels you will come across good reference sources (especially online) not on the list. If you do, then post it on the discussion forum and I will have a look. If they fit very well with the unit objectives and is good (in my opinion), I will add it to this list.

For buying computer books, the best two places in Perth (where I regularly scan for new titles) are:

BOFFINS BOOKSHOP
806 Hay St
Perth

RELLIM BOOKSELLERS PTY LTD
834 Hay St
Perth

The standard place to look online is obviously Amazon.com. You can also review the books at the original publishers sites, such as O'Reilly.

Besides the Unit Reader, I have not asked the University Bookshop to purchase any of the above books, since there are too many.

You should always have a careful look at the book contents before buying. I recommend the books because they cover the unit material and in my opinion are well-written for the level of 3rd-year undergraduates. But what I find well-written, you may find indecipherable. Have a look at the books before you buy them. If you would like to have a quick review from my collection, email me.

H.L. Hiew
Unit Coordinator