With the 2.0.35 "General Availability" release of Apache 2.0 in early April 2002, and the beta release of the newly redesigned mod_perl 2.0 to match, there may be some concern as to how applicable our book will be to your everyday development efforts. This concern is understandable, and we hope here to present some of the issues so you can decide if our book is right for you. We think that it is, but read on if you need just a bit more information

The mod_perl Developer's Cookbook is entirely focused on the Apache 1.3 architecture, for which mod_perl (currently 1.26) was designed. Part of the reason for this is that neither the Apache 2.0 nor the mod_perl 2.0 API had been solidified while we were writing - at the time, both APIs were moving targets and the mod_perl 2.0 was being constantly changed and tweaked as Apache 2.0 was taking shape. Of course, both Apache 2.0 and mod_perl 2.0 are in much better shape now, fairly stable and, in mod_perl's case, ready for people to start tinkering. The good news is that our book can help you do that, even though it is focused on the Apache 1.3 architecture.

One reason the mod_perl Developer's Cookbook can help is that many of the underlying concepts for the Apache 2.0 architecture are the same as 1.3. For instance, the request cycle is pretty much the same, still offering hooks into phases like URI translation, resource control, fixups, and content generation. There are still mechanisms for subrequests and lookups, handlers still return constants like OK or DECLINED, and major structures like the request record still hold the same information. Since the goal for mod_perl 2.0 is the same as mod_perl for the 1.3 tree -- to provide access to the Apache API through Perl -- the methodology used to develop mod_perl applications for the 2.0 architecture is nearly the same as it was before. We think you will find that the mod_perl Developer's Cookbook provides insight into these various topics that you will not find elsewhere, and will help strengthen your understanding of both mod_perl and Apache as you develop for either the 1.3 or 2.0 architecture.

Although some parts of the API are not the same, mod_perl 2.0 provides the Apache::compat compatibility layer. So, with very little work, you should be able to get your 1.3 code (and most of the code from our book) working with mod_perl 2.0. We have to admit, though, that some of our examples push the envelope to the limit and most likely will not be directly portable to mod_perl 2.0. But these examples really exist to get your mind moving in all sorts of new directions and show what types of things you can do once you understand what access to the Apache API in Perl really means.

With any new implementation, though, there are inevitably old features that have been deprecated and new features that are non-existent in the old design. For mod_perl the most notable of these is the introduction of filters into the Apache API, which will make techniques like Apache::Filter obsolete under mod_perl 2.0. Another area that will be different is the creation and use of custom configuration directives, which is much simpler and does not require XS. The good thing is that the concepts behind these techniques, and other areas where the two architectures differ, are sound development techniques regardless of the particular version of the Apache API you are implementing.

All that aside, the main reason you may still be interested in picking up the mod_perl Developer's Cookbook is that mod_perl for Apache 1.3 will be significant for a very long time - as you think about migrating your application to mod_perl 2.0 there are still bugs to fix, enhancements to implement, and other things to be done to your existing production code for which you still need a reference. We think that our work, being the first significant book on mod_perl in nearly four years, can teach you lots of techniques you never considered and take you places you never would have investigated, each of which will make you a better mod_perl developer in the end.