What is Cold Fusion ?

ColdFusion is a commercial rapid application development platform invented by Jeremy and JJ Allaire in 1995. It is mainly developed to make it easier to connect simple HTML pages to a database, but wityh the its version 2 it had become a full platform that included an Integrated Development Enterprise (IDE) in addition to a full scripting language. Current versions of ColdFusion include advanced features for enterprise integration and development of rich internet applications. ColdFusion primarily competes with latest web technologies like PHP and ASP.

Adobe ColdFusion 9 software makes it easy for developers to rapidly build enterprise-ready Internet applications by collaborating complex business logic into fewer lines of code. Plus, unique integration between ColdFusion and the Adobe Flash Platform provides the easiest solution for building rich Internet applications (RIAs) from client to server.

One of the significant features of ColdFusion is its associated scripting language, ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), which compares to the scripting components of ASP, JSP, and PHP in purpose and features, but more closely resembles HTML in syntax. “ColdFusion” is often used synonymously with “CFML”, but there are additional CFML application servers besides ColdFusion, and ColdFusion supports programming languages other than CFML, such as server-side Actionscript and embedded scripts that can be written in a JavaScript-like language known as CFScript.

ColdFusion is most often used for data-driven web sites or intranets, but can also be used to generate remote services such as SOAP web services or Flash remoting. It is especially well-suited as the server-side technology to the client-side Flex.

ColdFusion can also handle asynchronous events such as SMS and instant messaging via its gateway interface, available in ColdFusion MX 7 Enterprise Edition.

Latest Features in ColdFusion 9

Adobe AIR local/remote database synchronization

This features provides  users applications with online/offline capability featuring reliable data management. Using SQLLite in the client and ORM on the server, ColdFusion 9 manages conflict resolution and data synchronization between the client and server when your application comes back online.

New Ajax controls

Now you can develop more compelling and insightful applications with a wider rangeof Ajax controls that leverage the new Ext JS 3.0 library via CFML tags and attributes. New controls include mapping, multimedia player, multifile upload, accordion navigation, progress indicator, confirmations, alerts, buttons, and sliders etc.

Microsoft Office SharePoint integration

It exposes data from Microsoft Office SharePoint web services to a ColdFusion application with the new CFSHAREPOINT tag. Additionally, use the single sign-on capability in SharePoint to display a ColdFusion application as a web part within a SharePoint site without requiring users to reenter their login information.

Object-relational mapping

With the introduction of this feature you can build database-independent applications using object-relational mapping (ORM) based on the open source Hibernate library. It will surely save the time and manage database logic and connectivity without writing any SQL. You can use the ORM Application Wizard in ColdFusion Builder to generate ColdFusion components (CFCs) for logic and connectivity without writing a single line of code.

Server Manager

It saves time by simultaneously performing administrative tasks across multiple servers from one central console. You can create data sources, schedule tasks, apply hot fixes, clear caches, and compare settings across a cluster of ColdFusion servers.

Office file interoperability

Now by using this feature it is very easy to generate office documents for reporting, decision making, and presentations. Read, create, and update spreadsheets using the new CFSPREADSHEET tag. One can also programmatically generate PDF files from Microsoft PowerPoint and Word files and dynamically produce presentations in HTML or SWF from PowerPoint presentations directly on the server.