NYCPHP Meetup

[Mark Armendariz]

David Mintz wrote:
> Flame me for starting this, I know it might get religious. But:  an 
> organization of which I am a member is evaluating proposals to rebuild 
> its website. One of those proposals is from some folks who apparently 
> are partial to ColdFusion. All I know about CF is what I just picked 
> up from skimming http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ColdFusion. Recognizing 
> my bias towards languages that I speak, I try to keep an open mind. I 
> am interested in hearing what you guys think about CF. I know I can 
> expect a PHPish bias in this forum but I also know there are a lot of 
> independent-minded, non-dogmatic, clear-headed, breath-takingly wise 
> and knowledgeable... have I flattered you enough yet?
>
I worked in CF for a couple years before moving to PHP.  This was around 
version 5 (it's been about 7 years).

CF was quick to learn and allowed me to get the job done.  The language 
provided plenty of built-in goodies including database connections, ftp 
and scheduling.  Anything that wasn't built in could be added using cfx 
tags and cfscript.  My biggest issue back then was the inevitable "tag 
soup".  Tag Monsoon might be more appropriate.  Also, most libraries - 
and even tutorial sites - cost $$ (akin to ASP) - at least back then, 
which was a no-no for the just-starting-out full time web developer that 
I'd been at the time. 

To its credit, as a local network manager for an international financial 
software company downtown, I bought a CF book for $20 from a street 
vendor and changed the entire company's support / service branch for the 
better by providing an intranet based on their orginal access database 
which they (ahem *I*) used to ftp from/to 5 offices internationally 
every Friday. That was after about 3-5 weeks with that book and a copy 
of homesite (now dreamweaver).  I spent about a year with that app 
thereafter and it became incredibly difficult to maintain because of the 
tag soup I mentioned above, but to start - and to learn, quick and easy.

I'm sure it's become a different beast since the move to the Java code 
base.  But if they're still all about the tags, I'd recommend against.

After I left that job, I moved to PHP and rarely, if ever, looked back.  
Happily.

Good luck!

Mark