Checking links, batch editing HTML files, tracking users, and writing CGI scripts - these are the often tedious daily tasks that can be done much more easily with Perl, the scripting language that runs on almost all computing platforms. This book is not so much about learning Perl as it is about using Perl to do common Web chores more efficiently. The secret is that, although becoming a Perl expert may be hard, most Perl scripts are relatively simple. Using Perl and other open source tools, you'll learn how to: incorporate a simple search engine Write a simple CGI gateway; convert multiple text files into HTML Monitor log files; and track users as they navigate your site. Even if you don't have any programming background, this book should get you quickly past Perl's seemingly forbidding barrier of chops and chomps, execs and elsifs. You'll be able to put an end to using clunky tools, editing files tediously by hand, or relying on programmers and system administrators to do "the hard stuff" for you.