ColdFusion Web Development

ColdFusion is an application server and software development framework used for the development and deployment of dynamic web sites. It is comparable in concept at least to PHP and ASP.

 

ColdFusion Application Design

As with most Adobe products, ColdFusion is known in developer circles for having an extremely powerful and yet intuitive and easy to use interface. The ColdFusion Markup Language is much more similar to HTML than the C-like syntax used by other server side scripting languages. The fact that the language is so easy to prototype with and yet fully extensible to enterprise level web applications that makes it so popular.

 

Among the most frequently cited reasons for choosing ColdFusion as a development platform include:

- Small learning curve and relative ease with prototyping

- Easy file system integration (PDF, e-mail, etc.)

- Uniform database access

- Cost-effective and scalable

- Strong security

 

ColdFusion versus PHP and ASP

For those developing smaller scale applications or working with a small budget, the initial cost of acquiring ColdFusion ($1000+) may be prohibitive compared to the minimal cost for ASP or the free, open source alternative of PHP. However, those working on larger applications will often find that the rapid rate at which they can deploy new ColdFusion applications more than makes up the the additional up-front cost.

 

Also, running ColdFusion on shared hosting plans may not be an available option with most web hosts, but again the larger applications which are typically the forte of ColdFusion would not be targeted to be hosting on such a plan.

 

Many, however, find that the additional upfront cost associated with a new ColdFusion project is more than offset by the positive attributes of the language mention previously.