> it as a huge and complicated set of JSP custom tags? JSP seems to
> behave very similarly to CF -- you write the code in a .jsp file and
> the compiler creates a .class file after the initial run. There are a
> ton of custom tags for JSP, and after sifting through them, it seems
> like CF can be seen as a large custom tag.
I think that's a bit of an oversimplification, but yes, CF can be thought of
as an abstraction layer between the code you write and the Java classes you
end up with as a result.
> 2) To quote Hal Helms:
>
> ...
>
> "Java is a high-performance language. Java with JSP (similar to
> ColdFusion for presentation) is over 10 times faster than using
> ColdFusion. A single JSP server can handle 10 times the number of
> simultaneous requests that ColdFusion can."
To quote Mark Twain, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. While it may
be true that you can write a JSP page that is ten times faster than its CF
equivalent, most pages are unlikely to fall within this category, and most
servers will run pages that have the same general bottlenecks no matter
whether they're using CF, JSP or something else.
In most applications I've seen, the vast majority of work involves database
access, so you're unlikely to see a significant performance difference, much
less a difference of a factor of ten.
> 3) I'm considering running MachII (after this class, I'm fairly
> convinced of the whole MVC thingy). Will running something like MachII
> make my applications faster? Or is it just a way to organize big
> projects so they don't get out of hand?
It's just an organizational thing. It won't make anything run faster. It may
make things run slower, although that may be outweighed by the
organizational benefits it provides.
> 4) Is there a way to optimize CF code so it runs the fastest? I know,
> for example, that virtual Query function is dog-slow, and that
> structures are lightning fast. Are there any other tips? Should I be
> utilizing more CFSCRIPT throughout my code?
You should probably focus on the two core things that make applications slow
- inefficient database use and lack of caching.
> No matter how much performance increase java/JSP offers, I find the
> whole language ridiculous. Then again, I find most computer languages
> ridiculous. Why shouldn't the parser be smart enough to know that a
> variable is a certain type without having me specify it? Why do I need
> to worry about case sensitivity? You may just call me lazy, but when I
> saw CF, I saw a language that was intelligent. It took the silliness
> out of programming and let me do what I really wanted to do.
Unfortunately, there's a lot wrapped up in that "silliness". Many
"traditional" programmers would rather work with languages that enforce data
typing because it helps them catch errors at compile time, rather than at
run time.
Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software
http://www.figleaf.com/
phone: 202-797-5496
fax: 202-797-5444
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