I haven't been following this thread too closely but I thought I'd put in my thoughts about what April is saying. Everyone knows CFML is a RAD environment and that this usually means you can justify the cost of the server in saved development time and maintenance cost. April's also correct that if you know a technology well you can use it to do amazing things - often times any one project could be built with many different technologies. What I want to point out is that prior to CFMX, sometimes an application's business requirements meant that CF just wasn't the best tool for the job. This was often due to requirements for very heavy COM use and/or the ability for the application to be more easily reused within other environments. Let's face it,other than via HTTP request/response, no part of a typical CF 5 application can be elegantly repurposed from other environments. Now that ColdFusion runs on the Java platform, it is entirely feasible to build applications that do have modles that can be repurposed, and these applications tend to be more scalable as well. One of the primary reasons that there's so much hype surrounding the Event Gateway in Blackstone is the fact that it frees CF Developers from the bonds of simple HTTP request/response driven functionality. Things can happen asynchronously. They can happen using protocols like SMTP, SMS, JMS, etc. rather than only via HTTP. I'd say that the server is entering a new era. One where it's not only a justifiable solution because of it's Rapid Development features but also because of it's ability to support many other technologies and (most importantly) it enables developers to build applications with truly repurposable components. ~Simon
Simon Horwith Member of Team Macromedia Macromedia Certified Master Instructor Editor-in-Chief, ColdFusion Developers Journal Blog - http://www.horwith.com April Fleming wrote: >When I worked at Kennedy Space center it was a very interesting setup, we >had a dev group for CF, one for ASP, one for JAVA, and one using PL/SQL in >Oracle. All of the teams were developing web-based applications, although >the CF group was using it more for Dynamic websites, than for actual web >apps, until we started using it to integrate with the ESRI GIS software for >web-based mapping apps. > >My point though (if there is one) was it really showed me how the same >objective can be achieved with many different technologies and the success >of the project really depended on how well the dev team knew what they were >doing. > >CF was definitely the best choice for the dynamic websites, fast dev time >and cheaper labor than the java or oracle guys, but for the apps each team >really seemed to have their stuff together, no group really stood out in >terms of efficiency or organization of project. > >Boy you wanna talk about holy wars, when the groups got together to discuss >technologies, all heck broke loose ;) > >-----Original Message----- >From: Douglas Knudsen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2004 2:04 PM >To: CF-Talk >Subject: Re: CF developer numbers > > >interestingly enough, CF is spreading inside my company. other app dev >teams are being modeled after the one I am on due to our great success. Of >course we are a phone company, always a little behind the world, LOL! > >Doug > > >On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 13:46:41 -0400, April Fleming <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >wrote: > > >>Funny I have been waiting for this conversation for a while now. I've >>been developing ColdFusion apps since 1998 as well, and every year it >>seems harder to justify the costs, there are a lot alternative >>technologies now. For me personally it has been a motivation to move >>some of my eggs into another basket. I just can't be a die hard, I >>know too many die-hard COBOL programmers, trying real hard to find >>those jobs. >> >>I'm certainly not an expert on any of this, just something I've been >>thinking about myself for a while, very happy to see it being >>discussed by others. >> >>April >> >>-----Original Message----- >>From: Calvin Ward [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2004 1:04 PM >>To: CF-Talk >>Subject: Re: CF developer numbers >> >>Beta was a superior format to VHS >> >>Amiga was a superior multimedia PC compared to PC-Clones or even Macs >> >>Apple's OS is more user friendly than Windows. >> >>Being better functionality wise doesn't guarantee market penetration >>or even survival. >> >>Just something to think about... >> >>-----Original Message----- >>From: Rey Bango >>Date: 10/20/04 9:37 am >>To: CF-Talk >>Subj: Re: CF developer numbers >> >>The biggest gripe that I hear about ColdFusion from *sssooo* many >>people is product cost. At $1,299 for standard and $5,999 for the >>enterprise, its a steep barrier to entry compared to PHP and >>ASP/ASP.Net (as free alternatives). And yes, I've read all of the >>posts and counterpoints to the >>*free* software vs.ColdFusion debate (including Ben Forta's analysis) so >>it's not even worth mentioning. Perception is what's hurting ColdFusion, >> >> >not > > >>functionality. >> >>I went through this same process when I developed in PowerBuilder. It >>came out and revolutionized the way Windows-based client/server apps >>were built. It had a strong run of about 5 years until MS brought >>Visual Basic up to par and offerred VB at cut rate prices, essentially >>cutting off PowerBuilder at the knees. I'm seeing many similarities >>with this and the ColdFusion product line. >> >>I think BlueDragon is a good alternative and luckily, their standard >>version is free but I'm wondering if it may be too little, too late. >> >>Rey..... >> >> >> >> > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| This list and all House of Fusion resources hosted by CFHosting.com. The place for dependable ColdFusion Hosting. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=11 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:182070 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
