Historically, programming hasn't been considered a critical skill for
biologists. But now, with access to vast amounts of biological data
contained in public databases, programming skills are increasingly in
strong demand in biology research and development. Perl, with its highly
developed capacities in string handling, text processing, networking,
and rapid prototyping, has emerged as the programming language of choice
for biological data analysis.Mastering Perl for Bioinformatics covers
the core Perl language and many of its module extensions, presenting
them in the context of biological data and problems of pressing interest
to the biological community. This book, along with Beginning Perl for
Bioinformatics, forms a basic course in Perl programming. This second
volume finishes the basic Perl tutorial material (references, complex
data structures, object-oriented programming, use of modules--all
presented in a biological context) and presents some advanced topics of
considerable interest in bioinformatics.The range of topics covered in
Mastering Perl for Bioinformatics prepares the reader for enduring and
emerging developments in critical areas of bioinformatics programming
such as:
- Gene finding
- String alignment
- Methods of data storage and retrieval (SML and databases)
- Modeling of networks (graphs and Petri nets)
- Graphics (Tk)
- Parallelization
- Interfacing with other programming languages
- Statistics (PDL)
- Protein structure determination
- Biological models of computation (DNA Computers)
Biologists and computer scientists who have conquered the basics of Perl
and are ready to move even further in their mastery of this versatile
language will appreciate the author's well-balanced approach to applying
Perl's analytical abilities to the field of bioinformatics. Full of
practical examples and real-world biological problem solving, this book
is a must for any reader wanting to move beyond beginner level Perl in
bioinformatics.
