ColdFusion - What's the point?

programming
1

Okay this may sound like a stupid question to the rest of the world but what’s the point of using ColdFusion?

I’ve been scripting ASP pages for a couple years now. I started right off with pages that accessed databases and I started doing them by hand using a text editor. Eventually my boss saw ASP’s usefulness and let me buy Dreamweaver MX to speed development and eventually I moved on to Studio MX 2004 (Basic). Now I’ve got Studio 8 on the way.

Anyway I still create ASP pages for database driven sites and pages. I’ll often tweak the code generated by Dreamweaver but overall the system works fine. So why would I ever need ColdFusion? What’s the point of running yet another server to do something I can already do?

I’ve been reading up on Coldfusion over the last few days and I can’t see any really good reasons as to why we should even look at buying it. About the only functionality I can discern is easier integration of Flash interfaces to databases. Am I wrong?

:ponder:

2

Well there are lots of choices for database - html integration just like there are lots of choices for word processing or spreadsheets. CF I think is a bit easier to learn (I don’t know ASP but I’ve heard it isn’t the easiest language) and yeah, since it is a (formerly) Macromedia product it will integrate seamlessly with all their other products.

Maybe CF has other functionality that ASP doesn’t, I don’t know. But it seems to me if you are finding all the functionality you need with ASP then don’t bother with CF.

3

Prettyboy use CF, he cna prbely give you a long story, but it personal perfrence too etc. I use php and mysql, i think ASP is the devil but hey :smiley:

4

Each programming language may have it’s own strong pionts, or integration bonuses like how well php integrates with mysql. Overall I would say that it just matters what language is available. Not all servers have ASP, and the same goes for Coldfusion, php, jsp, etc.

5

Mac - PC
Japanese - German - American Cars
Blondes - Brunettes - Redheads
…etc,

it is all personal preference. there are pros and cons for most programming languages. i learned on CF and i think it is easy to use and robust. i wouldn’t bother learning any other languages…

up to you.

6

So it sounds like the decision would be based on what webserver and database software we’re using? Since we’re using IIS and MS SQL I could stick with ASP and be a happy little monkey.

But if we went with Apache and/or MySQL (or other) It’d be a good thing to go to ColdFusion?

7

Yeah if you want to spend like 5k to put it on the server. Or you could install php for free:P But yeah you get the piont.

8

Err… I think you’re confused. Apache and Mysql are not competing products. To use mysql, you must have a server such as Apache. Likewise, to use a database with Apache, you must have mysql (or similar).

9

Sorry nokrev but I’m not confused. I’m well aware of what Apache is as well as what MySQL is. If you read the thread you’d see that my question was why anyone would need to use ColdFusion.

My shop uses IIS and MS SQL database servers. I’ve been doing ASP scripting for years but I have no knowledge of ColdFusion. Now I’m doing a project where the users want a Flash interface to a database so I started looking into it. Everything from Macromedia made it sound like I needed a ColdFusion server to do what I can already do in ASP. Hence the question of why I’d need one.

Seems to me that, with my current situation, I really wouldn’t need to investigate ColdFusion anymore.

10

You don’t need coldfusion for Flash, It is perfectly happy with PHP,ASP,CF,anything else.

11

Its not just the server that you’re running that makes the difference of choosing a programming language, in fact usually its not.
Scalability and speed of development are much more important.
For instance you won’t see amazon.com or gmail written in PHP, because PHP excels in smaller projects with faster development cycle; you would be much more likely to see people using J2EE for larger projects…

typically most web developers here will use PHP because its fast easy and free

12

PHP is free and easy to learn. I find it easier learn than coldfusion too
btw, coldfusion has awesome integration with flash. I actually found some tutorial which helped me make it integrat with Microsoft Access, which was helpful to me since it was our lesson in school and i could design the database in flash.

Apart from that, it’s all a matter of personal preference:)

13

Nah, I though coldfusion was easier than flash. It is super nice and easy, though I never have an opportunity to use it.

14

i dont see what justifies buying something like coldfusion when php/mysql/apache is just so easy, useful - and free!

15

Like I said above, availability. My job, for instance, only allows JSP. PHP is not authorized for use. It sucks, but that’s how it is.

16

my company uses coldfusion/access and i keep encouraging them to migrate to php/mysql…i wish they would cause i know no coldfusion but a bit of php/mysql…:te:

17

Dont know if it has been said, but coldfusion is on the decline, but still there are lots of jobs with it. And I think with this merger we may see more of it. It is actually one of the first server side languages I learned.

18

The problem is that non-tech types who run businesses that require real databases are easily confused. A rep comes in from some large corperate database company(oracle/peoplesoft/MS/seibel/etc…), they are wearing a nice suit and promises that that companies valuable data is good hands with their database system and that it comes with support. Mr. CEO agrees on the best looking suit and then they have a database system. Then the database support runs out, the company trains people to work with the database, and then they can never get rid of it becasue it’s too much of a pain in the a**.

The end.

Edit: i forgot to add, the business employs over 300 trained MySQL specialists who work in non-technical posistions, a complete underusage of resources