Why choose ColdFusion?

I just found a great document on the Adobe website which summarizes the benefits of using ColdFusion. Very Cool!!

How to Learn ColdFusion

Here are a few tips for how to go about learning ColdFusion

• Adobe Documentation (http://www.adobe.com/support/coldfusion/ then click on "Developer Documentation." This is a terrific resource. Look for two items in particular:
• Developing ColdFusion 9 Applications - this is basically a free text book It is 1317 pages long!! It explains how to do a heck of a lot - for free!
• ColdFusion 9 CFML Reference - This one is the dictionary. It is a listing of each tag and function. But, it doesn’t explain HOW to do anything.
• CFQuickDocs (http://www.adobe.com/support/coldfusion/)
• a quick interface for the reference mentioned above. It is a faster interface
• Safari Books online (http://my.safaribooksonline.com/) - this one is not free, but it lets you search through hundreds (maybe thousands) of books including some that have not been released yet (Rough Cuts - like Ben Forta's Web Application Construction Kit for CF9)
• ColdFusion Meetup (http://www.meetup.com/coldfusionmeetup/) - This is an online user group which records the meetings, so you can go back to older topics which you didn't need then, but do need now.
• Take a class - I also am a ColdFusion instructor, so I teach classes. Take a look at courses available online or in person.
• Online Blogs - It is amazing how many tutorials are available online. Learn to fine tune your search techniques and you can find a ton of help.
• Practice practice practice - actual need is the best teacher in a way. The more you just try things out, the more you learn!

ColdFusion 9 Extensions for Dreamweaver

Download the extension for Dreamweaver to update the language support for CF9.

The downloads page has other useful items, too!

Adobe Trial versions

Adobe CS5 has been announced, but the products are not quite available for purchase or trial until June

If you are looking for a trial version of Adobe CS4 products before then, this website has direct links.

CS5 to be officially launched April 12 - shipment 1 to 2 months later

Adobe will be announcing the details of the Creative Suite 5 launch. It is expected to be available for sale about a month later.

Word Wrap in CFBuilder

Contrary to popular belief, CFBuilder DOES allow word-wrap. It is just a little buried in the menus.

Find it here:

* Open Window --> Preferences --> HTML --> Editors
* Click the Advanced Tab
* Check "Enable Word Wrap"
* Restart CF Builder.

Passing by Reference vs. Passing by Value in ColdFusion

I just received a great question from a former student regarding passing by reference vs. passing by value in ColdFusion.

I know in some languages you can choose whether you are passing by reference or by value. In CF, it is kind of tricky.

Basically, if you pass a simple value (regular variable or array) will be passing by value, but if you pass a complex object (cfc, struct, query, etc) you will be passing by reference.

I found this great blog posting from Ray Camden which explains it very well. Check it out!