Adobe ColdFusion is an application server, renowned for rapid development of dynamic websites, with a straightforward language (CFML), powerful methods for packaging and reusing your code, and AJAX support that will get developers deep into powerful web applications quickly. This book is the most intense guide to creating professional ColdFusion applications available. Packed with example code, and written in a friendly, easy-to-read style, this book is just want you need if you are serious about ColdFusion.


This book will give you clear, concise and, of course, practical guidance to take you from the basics of ColdFusion 8 to the skills that will make you a ColdFusion developer to be reckoned with.



ColdFusion expert John Farrar will teach you how about the basics of ColdFusion programming, application architecture, and object reuse, before showing you a range of topics including AJAX library integration, RESTful Web Services, PDF creation and manipulation, and dynamically generated presentation files that will make you the toast of your ColdFusion developer town.



This book digs deep with the basics, with real-world examples of the how and whys, to get more done faster with ColdFusion 8.



This book also covers the new features of ColdFusion 8 Update 1.



What you will learn from this book?

- The basics of ColdFusion

- Basic debugging and exception handling techniques, and conditional processing

- Making your ColdFusion Components (CFCs) come alive with methods, using object inheritance, connecting to a database through the internal methods of our object/CFCs

- Keeping your object/CFCs thread safe when multiple users are running the same code segments

- Managing multiple products through common forms for listing, editing, and adding data

- Passing information into a custom tag, different methods of storing and accessing tags and tag libraries

- Wrapping the ThickBox javascript gallery functions into a custom tag for simple functional reuse

- Wrapping a Google map library into our code with a custom tag for simplified interactive maps, and creating a multi-state form list wrapped in a custom tag

- Controlling site content based on current user permissions

- ColdFusion AJAX Layout features and ColdFusion widgets

- Enhancing the user interface with AJAX

- Searching with a database, features of Verity search solution, how to integrate a third-party search solution

- Managing files, emails, and images for a dynamic website

- Integrating Feed, REST, and SOAP web services for interacting with other sites

- Creating data-driven reports in ColdFusion with several styles and interactions

- Presenting dynamic contents on your site using CFPresentation



Approach

This book is a fast-paced tutorial to developing ColdFusion applications, with an emphasis on real-world skills. Packed with examples and careful explanations, the book leads you through all the topics relevant to today's ColdFusion developer.



Who this book is written for?

This book is for web developers working with ColdFusion 8. If your goal is to get a good grounding in the basics of the language as quickly as possible and put a site together quickly, this book is ideal for you. If you want to learn more about professional programming of ColdFusion, this book is definitely for you.



No prior knowledge of ColdFusion is expected, but basic knowledge of general web and software development skills is assumed.