Post by illEATurHARTout on Sept 23, 2004 20:08:21 GMT
ColdFusion Hides Complexity:
Whenever you can let a tool handle administrative details for you, you save time, avoid mistakes, and have that much less detail to review and adjust.
ColdFusion lets you set and forget defaults for database access. The programmer can set database connection details once and then just refer to the data source with a simple name when it's used. With ASP, connection details such as username and password are repeated in the code each time the data source is used.
ColdFusion lets you set and forget session management. A global file that's transparently included at the beginning of every page can assign a session ID and a token that makes it hard to spoof the session and then can transparently associate the session (through cookies or URLs) with every page accessed by a client. Token creation and the verification that the token is tied to this session ID are handled automatically. Other middleware forces programmers to handle these details.
ColdFusion simplifies variable storage. The programmer can then readily manipulate variables appropriate to this logical session without having to rehash the details on every page. Common variables at the server, application, and logical page level are similarly supported. If desired, variables needed at the client level can be stored without a database to start with, and their storage can be shifted with a single setting to a common database (to facilitate clustering) later to quickly scale a demonstration to a full-blown application. Other middleware requires more programmer involvement and requires more work to scale up.
ColdFusion does implicit looping over queries and lists. It knows how to loop over the rows of a query. It automatically gets the next row when there's no more to do with the current row. It automatically stops trying to process rows when there are no more. Therefore, these details aren't coded and don't have to be reviewed and adjusted during maintenance. With other middleware, the programmer must code these details explicitly.
ColdFusion generates and sends javascript transparently on the fly when certain input tags are used. This facilitates client-side input checking without forcing the programmer to write, review, and modify javascript to do this.
ColdFusion makes user inputs safe. For example, if a variable contains a single quote, ColdFusion escapes it automatically when interacting with a database through SQL; the programmer doesn't have to think about or review this. If there's a desire to keep HTML from being stored or displayed as user input, a single setting in the input tag handles this situation. Simple tags or tag parameters in ColdFusion make text safe for XML as well.
Here's how a database query looks like in ColdFusion
<cfquery name="Company" datasource="yourDB">
select from VendorID
</cfquery>
Here's how a datbase query looks like in PHP
You might say, PHP allows you to make your own functions
Since ColdFusion uses tags, it allows you to make custom tags which are very easy to install.
ColdFusion has Great Error Handling and Debugging
ColdFusion lets you funnel detailed debugging information to IP addresses you provide. When a database engine throws an error, ColdFusion suggests possible causes. It lets you create your own error handlers where extra care is needed so that your application can, if it must, fail gracefully. With ColdFusion, you can customize error messages for specific situations and can provide one level of detail to users and a different level to maintainers.
Applications in ColdFusion can Change Platforms and Database Engines
If an organization tires of the push to continually upgrade Windows software, it can readily move its ColdFusion applications to different operating systems and Web servers with little change, and can even change database engines with a little more effort. Projects in ColdFusion can start small and scale up without abandoning code and starting over.
ColdFusion has Out-of-the-Box Advantages
ColdFusion comes with abilities that other middleware requires add-ons to perform. Do you need to index your web site? ColdFusion comes with an engine to do that. Do you need to perform dynamic load balancing? A version of BrightTiger ClusterCATS comes with this tool. For those rare occasions where you need to keep portions of your code proprietary, a utility to do this ships with ColdFusion. Do you have the need to add server components from other languages to ColdFusion? ColdFusion can use COM, CORBA, and JavaBeans objects created by other tools (such as Visual Basic, Visual C++, J++, and Java). Do you need persistent queries for speed? ColdFusion does that. Does the application need to integrate with NT's performance monitor and security; ColdFusion does that. Is there a need to put users in a "sandbox" (for example, to support multiple Web sites on a single host)? To modify the registry? To continue using existing CGI scripts? ColdFusion supports those functions. ColdFusion code can itself be generated on the fly by tools that come with ColdFusion Studio, its usual editor. The language itself is readily extensible. And speaking of extensible, ColdFusion readily converts data to and from XML and lets your site connect with other sites, as if through a browser, to extend the reach of your application.
Summarize the Savings
Because ColdFusion's grammar leads to fewer and more understandable lines of code than other middleware does, review and adjustment times are cut by one third or more. This is made possible by features of the language that hide complexity while providing great power.
Other tools require maintainers to cobble together add-ons from multiple sources. Because ColdFusion has many abilities built-in that other tools rely on add-ons to provide (if they're available at all), there are fewer finger-pointing exercises during site integration and operation and more opportunities for maintainers and the businesses they support to excel.
Other middleware tends to lock its purchasers into specific operating systems, Web servers, and database engines. Because ColdFusion is available for a wide range of operating systems, Web servers, and database engines, migration doesn't require maintainers to start over.
The only bad thing about ColdFusion is that its costs $$$
Whenever you can let a tool handle administrative details for you, you save time, avoid mistakes, and have that much less detail to review and adjust.
ColdFusion lets you set and forget defaults for database access. The programmer can set database connection details once and then just refer to the data source with a simple name when it's used. With ASP, connection details such as username and password are repeated in the code each time the data source is used.
ColdFusion lets you set and forget session management. A global file that's transparently included at the beginning of every page can assign a session ID and a token that makes it hard to spoof the session and then can transparently associate the session (through cookies or URLs) with every page accessed by a client. Token creation and the verification that the token is tied to this session ID are handled automatically. Other middleware forces programmers to handle these details.
ColdFusion simplifies variable storage. The programmer can then readily manipulate variables appropriate to this logical session without having to rehash the details on every page. Common variables at the server, application, and logical page level are similarly supported. If desired, variables needed at the client level can be stored without a database to start with, and their storage can be shifted with a single setting to a common database (to facilitate clustering) later to quickly scale a demonstration to a full-blown application. Other middleware requires more programmer involvement and requires more work to scale up.
ColdFusion does implicit looping over queries and lists. It knows how to loop over the rows of a query. It automatically gets the next row when there's no more to do with the current row. It automatically stops trying to process rows when there are no more. Therefore, these details aren't coded and don't have to be reviewed and adjusted during maintenance. With other middleware, the programmer must code these details explicitly.
ColdFusion generates and sends javascript transparently on the fly when certain input tags are used. This facilitates client-side input checking without forcing the programmer to write, review, and modify javascript to do this.
ColdFusion makes user inputs safe. For example, if a variable contains a single quote, ColdFusion escapes it automatically when interacting with a database through SQL; the programmer doesn't have to think about or review this. If there's a desire to keep HTML from being stored or displayed as user input, a single setting in the input tag handles this situation. Simple tags or tag parameters in ColdFusion make text safe for XML as well.
Here's how a database query looks like in ColdFusion
<cfquery name="Company" datasource="yourDB">
select from VendorID
</cfquery>
Here's how a datbase query looks like in PHP
<?
mysql_connect(localhost,username,password);
mysql_select_db($database);
$result = mysql_query("select * from counter");
?>
You might say, PHP allows you to make your own functions
Since ColdFusion uses tags, it allows you to make custom tags which are very easy to install.
ColdFusion has Great Error Handling and Debugging
ColdFusion lets you funnel detailed debugging information to IP addresses you provide. When a database engine throws an error, ColdFusion suggests possible causes. It lets you create your own error handlers where extra care is needed so that your application can, if it must, fail gracefully. With ColdFusion, you can customize error messages for specific situations and can provide one level of detail to users and a different level to maintainers.
Applications in ColdFusion can Change Platforms and Database Engines
If an organization tires of the push to continually upgrade Windows software, it can readily move its ColdFusion applications to different operating systems and Web servers with little change, and can even change database engines with a little more effort. Projects in ColdFusion can start small and scale up without abandoning code and starting over.
ColdFusion has Out-of-the-Box Advantages
ColdFusion comes with abilities that other middleware requires add-ons to perform. Do you need to index your web site? ColdFusion comes with an engine to do that. Do you need to perform dynamic load balancing? A version of BrightTiger ClusterCATS comes with this tool. For those rare occasions where you need to keep portions of your code proprietary, a utility to do this ships with ColdFusion. Do you have the need to add server components from other languages to ColdFusion? ColdFusion can use COM, CORBA, and JavaBeans objects created by other tools (such as Visual Basic, Visual C++, J++, and Java). Do you need persistent queries for speed? ColdFusion does that. Does the application need to integrate with NT's performance monitor and security; ColdFusion does that. Is there a need to put users in a "sandbox" (for example, to support multiple Web sites on a single host)? To modify the registry? To continue using existing CGI scripts? ColdFusion supports those functions. ColdFusion code can itself be generated on the fly by tools that come with ColdFusion Studio, its usual editor. The language itself is readily extensible. And speaking of extensible, ColdFusion readily converts data to and from XML and lets your site connect with other sites, as if through a browser, to extend the reach of your application.
Summarize the Savings
Because ColdFusion's grammar leads to fewer and more understandable lines of code than other middleware does, review and adjustment times are cut by one third or more. This is made possible by features of the language that hide complexity while providing great power.
Other tools require maintainers to cobble together add-ons from multiple sources. Because ColdFusion has many abilities built-in that other tools rely on add-ons to provide (if they're available at all), there are fewer finger-pointing exercises during site integration and operation and more opportunities for maintainers and the businesses they support to excel.
Other middleware tends to lock its purchasers into specific operating systems, Web servers, and database engines. Because ColdFusion is available for a wide range of operating systems, Web servers, and database engines, migration doesn't require maintainers to start over.
The only bad thing about ColdFusion is that its costs $$$
Did you write all that out? Or just copied it from a website?
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