BBKMSc/MRes Bioinformatics: Biocomputing II

Dr. Andrew C.R. Martin

In these practicals you will learn to apply the Perl from Biocomputing I to problems on the web. First you will learn how to create web pages from scratch that match modern standards then how to format them and interact with scripts running on the web server. This is an essential skill in Bioinformatics where many resources are web-based. Finally you will learn about 'web services' - a way to access programs and data on the web from your programs.

  1. Creating a web page in HTML and starting to use CSS to control presentation.
  2. Creating forms in HTML and accessing the data from CGI scripts written in Perl.
  3. Using Web services - REST and SOAP.
    The lecture is followed by an assessment on HTML/CSS and CGI.
    Note: Owing to time limitations, there is no supervised practical for Web Services, but there is a page providing examples and information, and an optional self-study practical which you can can do in your own time if you find it useful.

Course materials by week

No. Date Lecture title Handouts Exercices
1 TBC Writing your first web pages   Practical
2 TBC Writing CGI scripts   Practical
3 TBC Web Services and Remote Procedure Calling   ASSESSED PRACTICAL - HTML/CSS and CGI

Java Practicals

Access the Java practicals here.

Coursework

Access the Biocomputing II coursework here

Contact me by email if you do not have the username and password to access the coursework information:

Refresher Videos on Perl

BERMNZ has provided a whole series of 50 introductionary Perl tutorials on video on YouTube. You can access them at: