Coldfusion, PHP or .NET

why you should use ColdFusion MX 7 instead of the latest version of another language ?
First, you didn't tell in which platform you are planning to develop the project.
Seems to be something huge, so Linux / Windows are not the best choices as OS. Unix/Sun or one of the family. Then, the top class DB is Oracle, so reviewing the most popular scripting languages (ASP.NET, CF, PHP, JSP), you can choice between PHP and CF 7. I think CF is most powerfull, you can natively use Java components, the develop process should be faster, and are slightly OO oriented like PHP, so there's no difference in that aspect.
JSP is another great choice, maybe better than CF MX 7, but not faster in developing times.
Now, If your OS of choice is Windows, then .NET is the clear choice, a little bit faster, fully integrated with the OS (ohhh, yes, now I realize wh.. .NET and Windows are from the same company !), and you don't have any additional cost than the license for the Windows Server.
But there's not a definitive reason why you should or not use CF. Yes, in the case of .NET, if you are plannig to develop the system in Linux, .NET is not one of the possibilities.
So, in my opinion :
Top of the top :
Unix/Solaris/.../.../
Oracle
CF MX 7 / JSP
Top of the Middle :
Windows Server
.NET
Sql Server
Middle of the middle :
Linux
PHP
MySQL 5

I don't want to offend PHP developers saying that is less than the other languages, also Linux and MySQL, just an opinion. I know stability of Linux much better than Windows, but the integration of Windows/Sql Server/.NET gave me better results in term of performance.

Best regards, please crush my opinion and reply with something better if you want, even SliceOfLife , we want to hear the official opinion of Microsoft about it !!

>>for reasons why I should use ColdFusion MX 7 instead of the latest
>>version of another language

becuase you have no problems with any of CF's shortcomings (or you disagree
that it has them)

The only time, imho, to use CF is when you are faced with a choice between
CF or PHP. (i personally don't like coding with PHP) But given the option of
asp.net, RoR or most other languages, and given the programming experience
you have, it would be almost foolish to choose CF. (far less developers with
true development skills, poor adobe and third party support, nowhere near
as RAD as the others, far less pre-written apps and libraries available,
uncertain future, the likley need to have to learn Java on top of the CF,
amongst other things)

A good reason for using it is simply that you like it and you are
comfortable adn productive with it. It might well be much faster to
developer asp.net apps once you know what you are doing, but you will need
to develop the skills in the first place!


"angelseyeinc" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:eu1b9m$sm0$1@forums.macromedia.com...
>I am working with a startup with large amounts of funding and we're doing
>some
> research into a server side programming language. Being an experienced CF
> developer with 6+ years...and never having worked with any other server
> side
> language extensively...I'm looking for input from users who have used
> other
> languages extensively for reasons why I should use ColdFusion MX 7 instead
> of
> the latest version of another language.
> Keep in mind this project is projected to be of MySpace type proportions
> within the next year and we must take into account O/S, DB, scalability
> and
> stability.
> Any input would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks
>
> Erick
> AngelsEye Productions
>
>

re: some of the new stuff they are coming out with really puts ColdFusion to
shame

And this is kind of why its best to avoid coldfusion for any new development
projects. MM and Adobe will not / did not do very much to make it catch up
to the competition - far too late for that. (unless they open source it and
folk actually start to use it en masse)

As you mentioned, it does appear to be fading somewhat. CF is a great tool,
but it simply does not compare to what is available these days. Its just a
scripting language like many others, designed to be friendly and simple to
learn, as are all scripting languages. Trouble is that CF offers nothing
above and beyond what you can get at a better price, with far more support
and much much more availability.

CF doesn't suck - the adoption rates and all the disadvantages that go with
the adoption rates suck. It is fair to say that CF is rarely used these
days, a lot of folk already consider it dead or stagnant (rightly or
wrongly) and that makes it a risk in the eyes of many - especially deceison
makers and managers. Seems to me that is used mainly in US government and
places liek that, not by mainstream web developers so much.

And yes, I am the troll they refer to. But nonetheless...


"angelseyeinc" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:eu1b9m$sm0$1@forums.macromedia.com...
>I am working with a startup with large amounts of funding and we're doing
>some
> research into a server side programming language. Being an experienced CF
> developer with 6+ years...and never having worked with any other server
> side
> language extensively...I'm looking for input from users who have used
> other
> languages extensively for reasons why I should use ColdFusion MX 7 instead
> of
> the latest version of another language.
> Keep in mind this project is projected to be of MySpace type proportions
> within the next year and we must take into account O/S, DB, scalability
> and
> stability.
> Any input would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks
>
> Erick
> AngelsEye Productions
>
>

Yeah, this is just going to get a lot of crap from our troll, and most people that could give you useful, meaningful dialogue have long since left. I'd suggest posting your question on CF-Talk over at houseoffusion.com. It does come up there regularly enough as well, but is less likely to disintegrate the way this topic ALWAYS does on this forum.

Regardless, I don't know that there is any big argument for NOT using another language...well, unless you really want something that is platform independent, obviously ones like .Net are not real strong in that area compared to CF. But really, most of the big players would probably be fine...the question is how much extra time you'll have to spend in learning a new language.

One thing I will say is that you might want to look at BlueDragon. It's performance really ROCKS and some of the new stuff they are coming out with really puts ColdFusion to shame. Unless you really need some of the CF7 feautures that only Adobe provides, it's well worth considering for something that can scale and is stable, etc. After all, MySpace runs on it, so you know it can handle big sites!

John P

Something I prolly should use to clarify. I'm all over using CF for our language because of it's ability to run on any platform and connect to just about any DB and I personally believe I can make it do anything (but that's just me and my ego). I am looking for information to convince me why I "SHOULD NOT" use another server side language.

Oh, oh..... troll bait.

OK, you're up Andy.