The original version of ColdFusion was developed by Allaire under the supervision of JJ and Jeremy Allaire. Allaire was taken over by Macromedia in 2001.
Macromedia was acquired in 2005 by Adobe and development was stepped up.
In July 2007, Adobe released ColdFusion 8 and is now preparing the ColdFusion 8 updater 1 (known as ColdFusion 8.0.1) to be released in early 2008.
CFML (Cold Fusion Markup Language)
ColdFusion is primarily differentiated by the scripting language associated with it. This language is called CFML for Cold Fusion Markup Language.
This CFML looks like standard HTML in appearance and interfaces with JSP (Java Server Pages), ASP (Active Server Pages) and PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor).
Tags used in CFML are prefixed with cf in all instances. Such as cfparam or cffunction. CFML is considered to be a dynamic language.
However, tags that offer a type-check on parameters of user input must be specifically called out by the programmer. This can cause runtime failures and is the single negative I can see.
One of the greatest features of ColdFusion is its simple, tag-based scripting language called ColdFusion Markup Language or CFML.
What makes CFML great is that it's very easy for developers to learn because they are already used to working with tag-based HTML.
One of CFML's big characteristics is that it is case sensitive. Also, CFML uses dot notation to call components (objects) from a file and to pass messages between components.
Tags can have an opening and a closing tag, however CFML does allow for a "self closing" tag. An example of a self closing tag would be cfset value = "Welcome"/. Which version of tagging should be used is hotly debated.
CFML applications
ColdFusion is primarily designed to be used with small, medium and large businesses. Some advanced personal uses could be possible as well.
Dynamic web sites with a fully integrated shopping cart, support on the back end for Flash interactivity and intranets are the most common uses of ColdFusion and CFML.
The web site applications are the intended design targets. These sites will be completely interfaceable with PDF, HTML, XHTML, DHTML and other document types prevalent on the Internet. Dynamic presentations and Flash applications are almost limitless.
As an intranet builder, large companies can program all their internal information as objects and code them into a file for later calling via "cfcomponent" tags.
This can make virtually any information available to all members of an intercompany network on an ongoing basis.
The ability of ColdFusion to create PDF files from standard HTML is a powerful addition. This is courtesy of Adobe since they have been overseeing the development since 2005.
The cost of ColdFusion hosting is generally a bit more expensive than standard hosting with Windows or UNIX.
This is due to the need for a ColdFusion server and engine. But with it's advanced features and shared server availability, this cost is presently very competitive.
The largest advantage of ColdFusion is the simplified coding for website development that would normally be extremely complex otherwise. Also the language is easy to learn in a server side environment.
