With its highly developed capacity to detect patterns in data, Perl has
become one of the most popular languages for biological data analysis.
But if you're a biologist with little or no programming experience,
starting out in Perl can be a challenge. Many biologists have a
difficult time learning how to apply the language to bioinformatics. The
most popular Perl programming books are often too theoretical and too
focused on computer science for a non-programming biologist who needs to
solve very specific problems.Beginning Perl for Bioinformatics is
designed to get you quickly over the Perl language barrier by
approaching programming as an important new laboratory skill, revealing
Perl programs and techniques that are immediately useful in the lab.
Each chapter focuses on solving a particular bioinformatics problem or
class of problems, starting with the simplest and increasing in
complexity as the book progresses. Each chapter includes programming
exercises and teaches bioinformatics by showing and modifying programs
that deal with various kinds of practical biological problems. By the
end of the book you'll have a solid understanding of Perl basics, a
collection of programs for such tasks as parsing BLAST and GenBank, and
the skills to take on more advanced bioinformatics programming. Some of
the later chapters focus in greater detail on specific bioinformatics
topics. This book is suitable for use as a classroom textbook, for
self-study, and as a reference.The book covers:
