ColdFusion Muse

Kevin Hoyt on ColdFusion 9

You may or may not know that the Muse' company, CF Webtools, sponsors the Nebraska ColdFusion User's Group (NE CFUG). Actually all the real work is done by our ColdFusion and Linux Guru, Ryan Stille who's energy keeps ColdFusion thriving here in the heartland. Last night we heard a presentation by the affable and knowledgeable (and really really tall) Kevin Hoyt. He spent about 2 hours both in presentation and chatting with us afterward. He was pretty cool and called his presentation a "slide deck" and talked about how the "newbies" put in too many "transitions". Oh you Adobe people and your fancy pants lingo. What will you think of next.

Now in the interest of full disclosure, I'm a ColdFusion zealot. I know that's not news to my regular readers, but it bears mentioning in case I slip up and say something negative. All in all the Muse has been thrilled with each release of ColdFusion and I have waited with bated (or is it baited) breath for each Beta (or is it Baita) version. When CF 8 came out I rewrote our entire tracking and project management system to take advantage of the new UI features. I'm an early adopter and a CF enthusiast. Also I should note that, although I have the beta version of CF 9, I will only be talking about what was in the presentation. Here's my take.

Coldfusion IDEs Part II - Projects Vs. Work Orders

Many of you enjoyed (or were irritated by) my previous post on the "Great Coldfusion IDE Debate". In that post I introduced Warren - a Coldfusion developer who approaches development from a technical and practical viewpoint. Many of you pointed out that Warren was a stereotype. Thanks for noticing. I would add that water is wet, Bill Gates is rich and Dick Chaney is a bad shot. Of course it is worth noting (as I did previously) that you need the qualities of both a technical and design oriented developer to make a complete skill set. Meanwhile the point of the previous post was that when we talk about a new "Coldfusion IDE" we are not really targeting design folks. Instead we are targeting technical coders who are involved in creating CFCs, interacting with databases and data and doing the "heavy lifting" on the server. In short, we are targeting Warren. In this post I would like to talk a little more about some of the challenges a technical coder faces in development, and how such challenges relate to a chosen IDE. In particular I would like to talk about the dichotomy between high end and low end development - between "projects" and "work orders".

NOTE: As before, remember that when you comment you do so as a guest. I realize you may have strong feelings on this topic. Just keep in mind that this is my bully pulpit. Now back to our regularly scheduled post.

The Great Coldfusion IDE Debate

I've been following with some interest the discussion regarding a Coldfusion IDE that has been raging on CF-Talk since yesterday. Ok, maybe "raging" is a bit much. How about "simmering". The thread started when someone requested that CF-Talkers get the word out about a survey being done to determine how Coldfusion Coders use development tools. I blogged about the survey a couple days ago. Of course anytime you bring up Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) and coding practices you inflame the passions of the CF faithful. In the next post or two I will try to boil down the issues into some nice categories that may prove useful for discussion. Today's issues are:

• Cross-platform Compatibility
• Why Not Dreamweaver

Take the Coldfusion IDE Survey!

If you are a Coldfusion developer you need to fill out this survey. None of the existing IDE's score high enough to be called "really great" (in my view). I'm really glad to see someone investigating the possibilities of a new IDE.

Joe Rinehart on Sys-Con's Propaganda

I don't usually favor chain blogging, but I thought this was worth repeating. I was reading a post by Coldfusion legend Ben Forta that he wrote on Oct 12th - immediately after sys-con published their now infamous Coldfusion demise article. Ben (as always) was succinct and took exactly the right tone in my opinion. It was while reading the comments however, that I stumbled onto a comeback that makes my top 10 list for funniest flames. Model-glue guru Joe Rinehart quoted the infinite monkey theorem:

Thanks Joe. That was precious. It's the one deceased that really had me cackling. I'll put that one in my quip arsenal.

CW Article Favoritable to Coldfusion ( In anUnrelated Story, Hell Freezes Over)

In an article posted on Oct 5th by Computer World titled Can Adobe make Coldfusion hot again, CW says some shockingly nice things about Coldfusion. Now if they can please stop comparing it to Ajax. I hate it editors can't distinguish between the client side and the server side.

The Good the Bad and the Ugly: MAX in Review

This is the first MAX I've attended since the Adobe bought Macromedia. My overall take is positive. Adobe has certainly provided a great venue for developer networking. The community lounge, "AIR" park and the various spaces are configured to be comfortable "hang outs" centering around various technologies and by and large they work really well. All the sessions are recorded and the docs are available pretty quickly.

The conference was pretty lavish as well. The last 2 nights featured parties with an open bar and excellent food (including late night pizza!). The meals were excellent and the conference facility (McCormick place west) was awesome. And now... the rest of the story....

Coldfusion Abandoned in Favor of Client Side Tools (Film at 11:00)

The Coldfusion Developers Journal (CFDJ) is being discontinued by sys-con. You can read about it here. If you look closely it appears that the tech-savvy editors of the former CFDJ have determined (no doubt through research and careful analysis) that Coldfusion developers are fleeing to Ajax, Flex and Silverlight. Quoting the erstwhile Engin Sezci, "We have seen a rapid trend and move from ColdFusion to other emerging rich web technologies such as AJAX, Flex, and Silverlight.".

I was surprised to learn that developers mostly concerned with server side technologies are trading in their work boots for tasseled loafers and moving to the client side. One wonders if the editors of the former CFDJ have ever even seen a live Coldfusion application. I suspect Mr. Sezci is an offshore outsource editor. Certainly if they are paying him more than 5.00 an hour they are getting ripped off. Coldfusion is from Mars and Ajax is from Venus (Flex is from sentari 5 - an advanced technological planet). If anything, with the tight integration of Flex and Ajax - CF is more entrenched than ever as the server side component.

Perhaps the best quote of the day came from the inestimable Dave Watts on the BACFUG mailing list. "In a similar vein," wrote Dave, "I've decided to abandon bicycles in favor of oranges."