Adobe ColdFusion

“Adobe has just released version 9 with an impressive list of new features that stand toe-to-toe with anything you’ll find from Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, or any of the elite open source options as well....no other web development toolset available today gives you an equal balance of flexibility, scalability and out-of-the-box RAD experience for dynamic web applications than ColdFusion.”
Gartner, October 2009

Sadly when it comes to competitive pitches all it's take is for a competitor or even an internal IT team to whisper in the buyers' ear a phrase like

'"hmm ColdFusion, that's rubbish/dead/doesn't integrate/not a real language* "

Welcome to the land of FUD selling - Fear Uncertainty and Doubt.  Unfortunately this happens a lot - Why? Is ColdFusion bad?  No, quite the opposite!  Imagine asking a PC fan about a Mac or visa versa -  personal preference can form strong, misleading opinions.

Read on and learn more about ColdFusion and why we have a ColdFusion enhanced environment.

*delete as appropriate.

We don't use ColdFusion because we hate other languages.  Almost all of our developers hadn't used CF until they had joined us, which means they have had experience of multiple languages between them. There is nothing wrong with other languages - each has it's strength's and weaknesses, what is more important is the quality of code written and not the programming language.  We use CF because we love it, and as Gartner said it's all about "flexibility, scalability and out of the box RAD".  That means CF is flexible, can grow to meet demand and is fast to develop with.  In other words when it comes to real life deadlines, like say an Event, ColdFusion is the way to go.

We also run Microsoft SQL server for the core database system which means we can natively talk with other Microsoft set-ups.

ColdFusion can integrate with just about any current platform.  Since Adobe took over the product they have realized it must work with all web technologies and databases and have built in the tools to ensure it does.

ColdFusion can run on IIS and Apache servers.  It can talk with MySQL, MSSQL and Oracle.  When a .Net programmer tells you CF will not talk to .Net, politely inform them not only can it but ColdFusion can run on top of a .Net install.  In fact, it takes less lines of code to talk to a MS exchange server using CF than it  does using .Net.

ColdFusion is now commonly used as the conduit between multiple legacy systems due to it's interoperability.

Yes, ColdFusion is not the world's most popular language.  The Enterprise edition of CF is $7,499 compared to free for PHP or free for .Net (once you've bought the operating system).  So, no, it's not the worlds most popular in the same way a Lamborghini or a Porsche is not the world's most popular car. 

Having said that there are now open source versions of CF available so hopefully overtime more people will realize it's benefits.

ColdFusion is used by major companies, to name a few:
Bank of Americia, BMW USA, Cisco, eBay, McAfee, Siemens, Symantec, Wells, Fargo Xerox

ColdFusion is also a very easy language to secure, what might explain why banks and IT security companies use it.

We are not asking you to install any special software or adjust your databases.  We prefer to use ColdFusion to create our product SHOWOFF which you use via a web browser.  We can export the data how you like it, via csv, Excel or even directly to your databases.  Do you know what software your print company uses?  No - it doesn't matter. 

Early on some people protested that CF was not a real language mainly because layout and application code was intermixed.  However now with ColdFusion it can have components (CFC), has its own scipting language (CFScript) and is an Object Orientated language.  ColdFusion is a Java Enterprise Edition application.

CF also has a dedicated developement path, the current version is CF 9 and CF X is now in construction (codename Zeus).

Let's face it during the day you will have seen lots of products created by Adobe on the web.

•  PDF's generated and read by Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Acrobat Reader
•  Flash is used widely and installed on the vast majority of internet browsers.
•  Chances are the images you see on websites have been generated by Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Photoshop Elements
•  Use TweetDeck?  That's an Adobe AIR application.

Since Adobe bought ColdFusion from Macromedia it has gone from strength to strength. 

Next time someone whispers in the ear something about ColdFusion, ask them to put it in writing and we'll answer it each issue directly.

• Wikipedia entry about ColdFusion
• Adobe's ColdFusion 9 site
• The ColdFusion Evangelism Kit