Article Discussion: Jump Start To ColdFusion MX

Jump Start To ColdFusion MX If you have any questions or comments about this article then please post them here.

You can read the article here .

In my article, the following code has an error in it.

<cfloop from="1" to="100" index="number">
<cfoutput>#number#</cfoutput><br>
</cfloop>

I left the step attribute out of the cfloop tag. The code should read like this:

<cfloop from="1" to="100" step="1" index="number">
<cfoutput>#number#</cfoutput><br>
</cfloop>

First of all, where's the follow up article?

Secondly, coming from PHP, CF seems like reinventing the wheel. I don't want to start a 'why is this better than that' thread, but what's wrong with the standard, C-based syntax?

Thirdly, does CF support OOP?

Well, all scripting languages re-invent the wheel, don't they?

Yes ColdFusionMX supports OOP.

Where ColdFusion shines is the ability for new comers to pick up the language. C-style syntax is sometimes more difficult for people new to programming to understand. Where ColdFusion has a tag based syntax that is easy to learn like HTML is.

The follow up article is coming.

HTH,
Clint

Well, CF may look like HTML, but that's why it looks a little confusing to me. You see, HTML/XML is used to give a document structure, not logic. And as we all know, the better the seperation of structure, logic, and presentation, the better the design is. So, when I start scanning through a document to see what elements are used and how, if I run into a CF tag, I'm looking at what looks like structure, but really behaves like logic. Does that make any sense?

I'm not stupid, I can make that transition. It just doesn't seem like the normal way of doing things.

Just for the record, I avoid throwing PHP in my HTML as well.

Also, I'm looking forward to the follow up article, but I'll wait to download my 30-day trial of CFMX until then.

With ColdFusion you can seperate your 'logic' from your structure just as you can with PHP, ASP, or JSP.

I like CF because of its power and ease of use. I can build things much quicker in CF than in ANY other language period.

Clint

Good. I look forward to the next CF article to see some more advanced examples.

What would you like to see covered?

Ben Rowe is currently doing a 6 part series covering registering logins in PHP with OOP. Now, I don't expect that kind of detail at all. But perhaps you could do this:

Show how CF can handle a login form, which is easy enough. Then, add a 'sendmail' class that notifies the webmaster when logins fail, as a pseudo security feature, perhaps after a certain number of failures. Then, take that 'sendmail' class and reuse it to handle a contact form, or a 'share this site with a friend' form, or....You get the idea.

You could also modify the login verify script to get the valid user's permissions and direct them to the appropriate page.

Is that too much? It could make a nice stepping-stone piece into more advanced OOP in CF.

If that's stealing Ben's idea, then maybe cover a CD/DVD collection database. First, list the entire CD/DVD collection with minimal info. Then, cover a sorting option, say by genre, title, length, etc. And finally a 'view record' script that shows the selected item's details. If you can weave a class or two into this example, it would be cool. Then you could reuse the 'vew record', or 'sort' class for other applications.

Also, be sure to cover database connection specifics. Like, how you specify the db's server, user, and pass info.

I know these aren't the most original ideas, but there's probably a reason why they come to mind so easily. I don't know. Maybe just pick something from your own experience that either took a while to figure out, or that you came up with a slick solution. BTW, You had to ask...

It's funny that most of the stuff you mention is so incredibly simple to do in CF (I know, not if you're not familiar with it), but then you say "make a class" for it, which is a whole other level of abstraction that many "seasoned" CF developers don't even get... Just an observation - not criticizing or anything.

Hi. is it possible you could cover integrating CF with Flash? (or at some point)

It is possible. However i wouldnt know the code to do it. but it is possible.

I have a powerpoint presentation that I did for our local user group that I will convert and post it.