FWIW, a few random notes:
when using mod_perl with apache, you can take advantage
of the Apache::DBI module, which pools database connections.
last january, we did a benchmark of mod_perl for a specific
job and were able to get around 50 concurrent connections
per second averaged across 11 servers (each server was
running a copy of the script). since we exceeded our benchmark
we didn't push it to see wht the limit was. the machines
were linux (rh 6) boxes, dual pIII, with a lot of memory (can't
recall exact amt). the script itself grabbed some info
from a web page (i don't think it used CGI.pm) and wrote it
to a file on the local machine.
using mod_perl, you have a complete interface to the webserver's
API, allowing you to do very sophisticated programming with
the advantages of a high level language.
the readability of a program written in perl, often described
as a "write-only" language, is really more about the person
writing the code. if the person writing is scatterbrained,
you'll have scatterbrained code. one can write very structured
and organized code in perl, that is very efficienct and very powerful.
however, if you're working in a group environment perl can be very
confusing to work with. particularly if some teammembers are not
so experienced with perl and some are very experienced.
regards
--e--