Who's Using Cold Fusion

Is it as robust as ASP or PHP?

[dvduval]

Out of neccesity, I've been learning 3 languages simultaneously: PHP, ASP and Cold Fusion.

So, far I can easily say that Cold Fusion has been the easiest for me so far. From connecting to the datasource to displaying query results, I've found Cold Fusion to be the easiest. I also find Cold Fusion easier to read.

I'm surprised there isn't a forum or a large interest group here at WebmasterWorld for Cold Fusion. I'd be interested to know who'e using it here.

[wingslevel]

I use cf5 for 4 ecomm sites. I have my own cf server. I am not so familiar with the new cfmx, though.

My worry about cf is that it is slowly declining in popularity. Seems that ultimately the open source options like php and java will get more and more poplular. Who wants to pay $1,500 for server software when the other apps are free and there is more universal code out there?

[hooloovoo22]

we use it exclusively. really fast (and surprisingly robust)from a development standpoint. it's hard to justify sometimes though from a cost and support standpoint.

i don't think it's going to go away, there will always be a market for something like this. for personal sites i've started using php and mysql for obvious reasons. i think every client/situation is unique for what you will want to use. we've found cfmx to be significantly better than cf5 for certain things as well - notably query of a query and xml

[Stretch]

We also use it exclusively. There are arguments for and against and one of the for's is ease of use as you've pointed out.

I agree with hooloovoo22 that it won't go away. Now it's got Macromedia behind it pushing the MX integration I think it will be around for a while.

[daamsie]

I'm using Coldfusion, but can't really compare it much to PHP or ASP because I don't have much experience with either of those.. I have dabbled in PHP though and found it a lot harder to learn, so certainly from a learning curve point of view Coldfusion is a lot better.

I don't know the truth of these comments, but I have heard people say that Coldfusion is faster and more stable because the code is pre-compiled (may be an MX thing)

Another comment is that the initial cost of Coldfusion is actually a lot lower than the setup cost of ASP when including features similar to Verity for example. I read an article on that somewhere - stirred up a bit of controversy I believe ;) - (please don't flame me)! Of course, that logic only counts if you need those features.

For me personally, I just find it a lot easier and would use it any day over PHP and/or ASP. I use it together with MySQL so at least part of the system is free. For personal use there are plenty of hosting companies that offer cheap shared coldfusion hosting. If you're going for a dedicated server solution it is a lot of money, but I guess at that stage you are willing to burn some on your hosting fees anyway ;)

Because the development version of the server is also free, that part at least is no more expensive than ASP or PHP.