Connect to MySQL database using Perl CGI and XAMPP
#!/xampp/perl/bin/perl -w

use DBI;

print "Content-type:text/htmlrnrn";

$database = "mydb";
$host = "localhost";
$port = "3306";
$user = "root";
$pw = "";

$dsn = "dbi:mysql:$database:$host:$port";

print "Trying to connect <br />";
$connect = DBI->connect($dsn, $user, $pw, {RaiseError=>1});

if (defined $connect) {
    print "Preparing query <br />";
}

$query = "SELECT * FROM reference WHERE ID = 1742031";
$query_handle = $connect->prepare($query);

$query_handle->execute();

$query_handle->bind_columns(undef, $pmid, $popu, $loc);

while($query_handle->fetch()) {
   print "$pmid, $popu, $loc <br />";
}

> cpan
cpan shell -- CPAN exploration and modules installation (v1.960001)
Enter 'h' for help.

cpan[1]> install DBD::mysql

$dsn = "dbi:mysql:$database;host=$host;port=$port";