Hi all,
In the interest of full disclosure, I'll state up front that I'm an
Allaire Certified Instructor, and am V.P. of Technical Services for
DevTech, an Allaire Authorized Training Center and Allaire Premier
Partner with offices in Portland and Seattle. This means I know a lot
about the classes, and have a financial interest in promoting them.
And, I believe I have a relevant perspective to share here.
Ben Forta's books are a great way to learn *IF* you have the time and
discipline to work through them, cover to cover. The Allaire courses
(the "basic" Fast Track to ColdFusion, and Advanced ColdFusion
Development) cover much, though not all, of what these books have to
offer, in 3 days each.
To me, the "how should I go about learning ColdFusion" question has two
main angles:
Learning Style - are you disciplined enough to hit the books and work
them hard, evenings and weekends, by yourself while holding down
another job? Many people learn better in a classroom environment,
where topics can be presented and absorbed in a logical flow of bite-
size chunks, during a three day period set aside to focus on taking in
new information.
Cost - for you, is it less expensive to buy a book, and then devote a
few months of evening and weekend work to get up to speed, or is it a
more cost-effective use of your time to attend an intense classroom
experience and get the core skills under your belt in about a week?
The Allaire courses are "intense" according to virtually all student
feedback I've ever received (I've taught close to 200 students, with
another round beginning tomorrow morning), which is why my company has
a second-round "re-audit" policy. Sometimes once is not enough, as
there's a LOT in these classes. But, my students leave with a solid
toolbelt of useful ColdFusion techniques strapped around their waist.
The folks at Allaire put together a very solid curriculum.
Your mileage, of course, may vary ... and I regularly plug Forta's
books in my classes (one o' these days I'm gonna ask him for a
kickback! <grin>). It all comes down to how *you* learn best.
Leo Schuman, JD
V.P. Technical Services
Advanced Allaire Certified Instructor
DevTech, Inc.
http://www.dev-tech.com
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