Platform

ColdFusion 9: What’s Hot

in Platform

I just read an article by Ben Forta on the new features of ColdFusion 9. Here is my initial take on them.

What I Like

  • I’m really excited about CF9′s support for Object Relational Modeling. I think thorough testing must take place to make sure it scales properly under load. I imagine it’s solid since it’s based on Hybernate, but I’ve seen a few promising ORM frameworks flame out before they had a chance to be adopted due to their inability to scale.
  • Access to server variables is also good. There is nothing worse than having to create service initializer hacks to pre-cache components in a clustered load balanced environment (think 4 physical boxes with 7 instances each) after server/instance restarts.
  • Multi-server admin tools. Enough said.
  • Although I prefer to code JavaScript applications separately from CFML, I am glad Ext-JS (3.0) continues to be the official JavaScript framework that ships with ColdFusion.

Not so Hot

I don’t think the new “local” scope adds any value. It seems we’re trying to hard to allow people to write inefficient code by being careless about scoping. Using “var” is fine with me as it is similar across multiple languages. “local” will just add another thing to remember when coding in CFML.

The Jury is Still Out

I’d like to get more testing done with the IDE, ColdFusion Builder, before making up my mind. I’ve been a fan of Aptana, the Eclipse-based IDE, for working with my favorite JavaScript frameworks, PHP and HTML/CSS. I hope the tool is both capable and fast, which has been tough to achieve with Flex Builder.

ColdFusion 9 and ColdFusion Builder Now Available on Labs

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Introduction to Ext.Direct

in Articles,Ext JS,Framework,JavaScript,Platform,Protocol

Evan Trimboli of the Ext-JS team just published an article describing Ext.Direct, a remoting API that is part of Ext 3.0. The team has created a remoting specification that you can use to implement the server-side stack of your choice.

Details about server-specific implementations already being maintained can be found here.

Ext.Direct is a new package in Ext JS 3.0 that helps alleviate many of these issues by streamlining communication between your client and server. When using Ext.Direct, you can expect to write 30% less code by eliminating common boiler plate code.

The Ext.direct namespace introduces several new classes for a close integration with the server-side. New classes have also been added to the Ext.data namespace for working with Ext.data.Stores which are backed by data from an Ext.Direct method.

Ext.Direct uses a provider architecture, where one or more providers are used to transport data to and from the server. There are several providers that exist in the core at the moment, for example a JsonProvider for simple JSON operations and a PollingProvider for repeated requests. One of the most powerful providers is the RemotingProvider.

Read the rest here.

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Ext-JS to Provide Free CDN Hosting for its Framework

This is great news for the Ext-JS community. Here is why you should take advantage of a content delivery network. We are pleased to announce that Ext has partnered with CacheFly, a global content network, to provide free CDN hosting for the Ext JS framework. Cachefly’s globally distributed network and aggressive caching accelerate the delivery [...]

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WordPress for the iPhone

In case you haven’t heard, WordPress is now available for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Head over to the App Store to get your free copy.

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“Where on Earth” Platform by Yahoo!

It is actually the newly released Yahoo! Internet Location Platform, which allows applications to share predefined location identifiers, known as WOEIDs. You can use the platform to match a WOEID to a place on earth, find parent and child relationships to that location and neighboring areas. The Yahoo! Internet Location Platform provides a resource for [...]

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Where is ColdFusion Headed Under Adobe?

From the ColdFusion Developer Journal: “Adobe has been very successful in selling into the enterprise. This can only help ColdFusion going forward,” says Dave Mendels, SVP of Adobe’s new Enterprise & Developer Solutions business unit (pictured), in this exclusive interview with ColdFusion Developer’s Journal. ‘Scorpio’ is still on course, Mendels confirms, and the ColdFusion product [...]

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