Simon Horwith is the editor-in-chief of ColdFusion Developer's Journal and is the CIO at AboutWeb, LLC, a Washington, DC based company specializing in staff augmentation, consulting, and training. Simon is a Macromedia Certified Master Instructor and is a member of Team Macromedia. He has been using ColdFusion since version 1.5 and specializes in ColdFusion application architecture, including architecting applications that integrate with Java, Flash, Flex, and a myriad of other technologies. In addition to presenting at CFUGs and conferences around the world, he has also been a contributing author of several books and technical papers. You can read his blog at http://simon.coldfusionjournal.com.
Exciting news for organizations and developers using ColdFusion: Adobe released ColdFusion 8 on July 30. This release is a major milestone for the product: it is the first full-version ColdFusion release by Adobe since the acquisition of Macromedia. With the release of CF 8, Adobe has ...
My editorial last month was a high-level overview of all the new features in ColdFusion 8. Many of these features were generally divided into one of two categories: features that address developer productivity and those that focus on integrating with other products and technologies.
'As someone who often has to troubleshoot, improve, and analyze client applications and server performance, I've also found the new debugging and server monitoring tools to be invaluable. I can't imagine going back to not having them available and making use of them daily.'
On May 30, Adobe released the public beta of ColdFusion 8. Although things can change between the public beta and the final release - the features included in CF 8 are unlikely to change between now and the official release, so I thought I'd give a high-level overview of some significa...
Today I'm speaking with Ben Forta, the technical evangelist for Adobe. The first thing I have to ask you is - the acquisition has happened, Adobe is now controlling ColdFusion and has taken over everything that Macromedia was doing, and this is my first chance to really speak with you ...
Yes, you read the title correctly: 'Scorpio,' the highly anticipated eighth major release of ColdFusion is coming soon to a town near you. Even before the release of the highly successful ColdFusion MX 7 two years ago, the ColdFusion team was already hard at work scheming, experimentin...
A student recently asked me what he could do to further his career, and inquired as to how I got to the point I am at on my own. This is a subject generally reserved for informal chit-chat among developers at conference social events and after user group meetings, and is one that is ve...
Since our last issue, several events have transpired that have significant impact for ColdFusion developers. I have been keeping my eye on several trends and have been evaluating whether or not they deserve focus in ColdFusion Developer's Journal. I've begun blogging about these trends...
While recently channel surfing, one of the 'Geico caveman' commercials came on the tube to remind me that Geico.com is so easy to use, even a caveman can do it. Plenty of ColdFusion developers are not what some people might call 'real programmers.' This is not necessarily a reflection ...
Keeping up to date with the most recent versions of software and programming languages is the toughest challenge for me as a developer. With each passing year it seems that the demands of being a top Web developer require proficiency in more and more tools and languages. Gone are the d...
ColdFusion developers today are presented with more options than ever before - more developer tools, more conferences and learning resources, and more development choices in the form of frameworks and language features.
Spending as much time as I have speaking before audiences, I try very hard to keep an eye on trends and attitudes within demographic groups, including university students. I have also had the opportunity in the past to represent Macromedia as a lecturer at Ivy League universities.
Usually, when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We've all seen the spam - 'Increase your 100%' e-mails that are clearly nothing more than ridiculous claims with no validity.
When ColdFusion Developer's Journal was launched eight years ago, it was the first printed periodical exclusively by and for ColdFusion developers. Over the years there have been many changes in format, authors, and publishing/editorial staff. One thing has remained constant, however: ...
Let's face it, the web is a frequently changing landscape - more so now than it has been since its inception. When the term 'Web 2.0' first set the industry on fire, I have to admit, I was not terribly excited.
I was really busy for several weeks prior to CFUnited and am back on the road again... but there's a silver lining. I'm basically done with my first round of SAM docs and I will be making those available very soon; I have the code and stories/advice to post as well - I just haven't had...
When ColdFusion was first released there was one main feature, more than any other feature, that made it very popular very fast: ColdFusion makes it ridiculously easy to create Web pages that can talk to databases and display database information. Now, almost 11 years later, this is st...
I've written a lot lately about the growing strength of the ColdFusion development community - shown by the onslaught of frameworks and the rapid adoption and support for these frameworks, the growing number of bloggers, new conferences and the great success of the CFUnited conference,...
Last month I announced a CFDJ essay writing contest; the topic for the essays was 'How ColdFusion MX 7 made me a hero in the office.' I received many great entries and thank each of you for your submissions.
Flex 2 beta 3 was just publicly released at http://labs.adobe.com. There are some nice changes in beta 3. I won't list them all here, but a few changes that I've been most impressed with so far are a bunch of nice enhancements to the Flex Builder IDE interface and performance and much ...
We're fast approaching CFUnited 06, and time for another contest to give away seats! For those of you not familiar with CFUnited, it's a conference that's grown from its grassroots beginnings to become the premier annual ColdFusion event.
'I'm shocked...shocked, I say, at just how much the ColdFusion landscape is changing. I'm specifically impressed with the impact that recent trends and events have had on the community.' His editorial this month is a detailed look at some recent events within the community and how they...
It's no secret that I've been outspoken about not liking frameworks for quite some time now. The truth is, I believe that frameworks have a lot to offer. The most significant benefit that organizations stand to gain from using frameworks is a standardized way to code and an environment...
Adobe provides the development community with the best tools available for rich internet development and dynamic web application development. Flash is the platform of choice for developing next generation web applications, the Flex 2 platform is Adobe's new rapid development environmen...
I've been fairly outspoken for quite some time now about the fact that I don't subscribe to any one framework. I've also spent many years refining what's proven to be the best methodology possible for developing ColdFusion applications. I recently promised my boss that I would learn an...
I've been a certified ColdFusion instructor for six years and speak regularly at user groups and conferences. One thing I've learned without a shadow of a doubt is that talk is cheap. Anyone can talk a good talk, but the proof is always in the pudding. Okay, enough clichés.
As someone who stands in front of audiences and evangelizes ColdFusion, often times I not only find myself preaching to the choir, but I sometimes find myself defending the product to misinformed or disheartened individuals. In the role of developer I, and many of our readers, find the...
'2005 has been one of the most significant years in history for ColdFusion developers and Web developers in general,' writes CFDJ Editor-in-Chief Simon Horwith. '2006 looks to be a very promising year as well, between the impending release of Flex 2, the beginning of seeing what Adobe ...
VPS runs multiple application servers in separate Virtual Operating Systems on the same machine in a seamless manner, NGASI reports. Also included in the company's recent update are installation and configuration tools for the Apache Geronimo Application Server. These are in addition t...
Adobe has been very successful in selling into the enterprise. This can only help ColdFusion going forward,' says Dave Mendels, in this exclusive interview with ColdFusion Developer's Journal. Here Dave discusses 'Scorpio,' how the ColdFusion product development team is already hard at...
Several people, Sean Corfield and Joe Rinehart most notably, have been blogging and emailing lists talking about the pros and cons of using cfincludes in CFCs. Sean is opposed to it, as am I, but Joe's got some mixed feelings. In a rush I simply commented on Sean's blog that this is ba...
It's official - the Adobe acquisition of Macromedia has been finalized and our beloved ColdFusion has a new home. Is this a bad thing? No, not at all. There was a lot of talk within the community about how this may adversely effect the server, but talk is cheap and, in this case, also ...
I have also noted many people expressing question and concern on various list servers. Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me tell you that the future is looking great. Of course, I don't work for Macromedia/Adobe, so why should you believe me? Maybe you shouldn't... but I've gone straight...
As a developer I tend to focus my attention on learning the tools that best meet my immediate project needs. As a Macromedia Certified Instructor I am in the position of having to learn all of the new features and tools, even those that I may not personally use very often in developmen...
It was exactly one year ago that ColdFusion Developer's Journal began focusing heavily on a different topic every month. The feedback that I hear from our readers at conferences and via email indicates that it has been a well-received change in format. While there is no plan to stop ...
Macromedia has been offering ColdFusion Developer Certification since version 4.5 was released. Though it's arguable that there is no such thing as an exam that accurately measures a person's ability to develop applications, some employers do value such things and there's no denying t...
Several years ago I reviewed DRIA - 'Developing Rich Internet Applications.' At the time it was the first official Macromedia Curriculum course to teach Rich Internet Application development. I thought I'd do a follow-up on that, as things have changed in the past couple of years.
In addition to the XML and community articles I've mentioned, we also have some terrific articles about other topics. In the regular 'Macromedia Speaks Out' column, Tim Buntel introduces the ColdFusion Administrator API. This API is new in CFMX 7 and allows developers to programmatical...
July was an exceptionally active month in the ColdFusion Community. First, the month began with the conclusion of the CFUnited Conference. Formerly known as 'CFUN,' CFUnited was a ColdFusion Conference the likes of which I haven't seen since the old DevCon days.
On ColdFusion's 10th Birthday, ColdFusion Developer's Journal editor-in-chief Simon Horwith sat down with one of the true pioneers of the Web, the man who started it all, Jeremy Allaire, to talk about the past, present, and future of ColdFusion...
Simon Horwith is the editor-in-chief of ColdFusion Developer's Journal and is the CIO at AboutWeb, LLC, a Washington, DC based company specializing in staff augmentation, consulting, and training. Simon is a Macromedia Certified Master Instructor and is a member of Team Macromedia. He has been using ColdFusion since version 1.5 and specializes in ColdFusion application architecture, including architecting applications that integrate with Java, Flash, Flex, and a myriad of other technologies. In addition to presenting at CFUGs and conferences around the world, he has also been a contributing author of several books and technical papers. You can read his blog at http://simon.coldfusionjournal.com. 
Exciting news for organizations and developers using ColdFusion: Adobe released ColdFusion 8 on July 30. This release is a major milestone for the product: it is the first full-version ColdFusion release by Adobe since the acquisition of Macromedia. With the release of CF 8, Adobe has ...
My editorial last month was a high-level overview of all the new features in ColdFusion 8. Many of these features were generally divided into one of two categories: features that address developer productivity and those that focus on integrating with other products and technologies.
On May 30, Adobe released the public beta of ColdFusion 8. Although things can change between the public beta and the final release - the features included in CF 8 are unlikely to change between now and the official release, so I thought I'd give a high-level overview of some significa...
Today I'm speaking with Ben Forta, the technical evangelist for Adobe. The first thing I have to ask you is - the acquisition has happened, Adobe is now controlling ColdFusion and has taken over everything that Macromedia was doing, and this is my first chance to really speak with you ...
Yes, you read the title correctly: 'Scorpio,' the highly anticipated eighth major release of ColdFusion is coming soon to a town near you. Even before the release of the highly successful ColdFusion MX 7 two years ago, the ColdFusion team was already hard at work scheming, experimentin...
A student recently asked me what he could do to further his career, and inquired as to how I got to the point I am at on my own. This is a subject generally reserved for informal chit-chat among developers at conference social events and after user group meetings, and is one that is ve...
Since our last issue, several events have transpired that have significant impact for ColdFusion developers. I have been keeping my eye on several trends and have been evaluating whether or not they deserve focus in ColdFusion Developer's Journal. I've begun blogging about these trends...
While recently channel surfing, one of the 'Geico caveman' commercials came on the tube to remind me that Geico.com is so easy to use, even a caveman can do it. Plenty of ColdFusion developers are not what some people might call 'real programmers.' This is not necessarily a reflection ...
Keeping up to date with the most recent versions of software and programming languages is the toughest challenge for me as a developer. With each passing year it seems that the demands of being a top Web developer require proficiency in more and more tools and languages. Gone are the d...
ColdFusion developers today are presented with more options than ever before - more developer tools, more conferences and learning resources, and more development choices in the form of frameworks and language features.
Spending as much time as I have speaking before audiences, I try very hard to keep an eye on trends and attitudes within demographic groups, including university students. I have also had the opportunity in the past to represent Macromedia as a lecturer at Ivy League universities.
Usually, when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We've all seen the spam - 'Increase your 
When ColdFusion Developer's Journal was launched eight years ago, it was the first printed periodical exclusively by and for ColdFusion developers. Over the years there have been many changes in format, authors, and publishing/editorial staff. One thing has remained constant, however: ...
Let's face it, the web is a frequently changing landscape - more so now than it has been since its inception. When the term 'Web 2.0' first set the industry on fire, I have to admit, I was not terribly excited.
I was really busy for several weeks prior to CFUnited and am back on the road again... but there's a silver lining. I'm basically done with my first round of SAM docs and I will be making those available very soon; I have the code and stories/advice to post as well - I just haven't had...
When ColdFusion was first released there was one main feature, more than any other feature, that made it very popular very fast: ColdFusion makes it ridiculously easy to create Web pages that can talk to databases and display database information. Now, almost 11 years later, this is st...
I've written a lot lately about the growing strength of the ColdFusion development community - shown by the onslaught of frameworks and the rapid adoption and support for these frameworks, the growing number of bloggers, new conferences and the great success of the CFUnited conference,...
Last month I announced a CFDJ essay writing contest; the topic for the essays was 'How ColdFusion MX 7 made me a hero in the office.' I received many great entries and thank each of you for your submissions.
We're fast approaching CFUnited 06, and time for another contest to give away seats! For those of you not familiar with CFUnited, it's a conference that's grown from its grassroots beginnings to become the premier annual ColdFusion event.
'I'm shocked...shocked, I say, at just how much the ColdFusion landscape is changing. I'm specifically impressed with the impact that recent trends and events have had on the community.' His editorial this month is a detailed look at some recent events within the community and how they...
It's no secret that I've been outspoken about not liking frameworks for quite some time now. The truth is, I believe that frameworks have a lot to offer. The most significant benefit that organizations stand to gain from using frameworks is a standardized way to code and an environment...
I've been fairly outspoken for quite some time now about the fact that I don't subscribe to any one framework. I've also spent many years refining what's proven to be the best methodology possible for developing ColdFusion applications. I recently promised my boss that I would learn an...
I've been a certified ColdFusion instructor for six years and speak regularly at user groups and conferences. One thing I've learned without a shadow of a doubt is that talk is cheap. Anyone can talk a good talk, but the proof is always in the pudding. Okay, enough clichés.
As someone who stands in front of audiences and evangelizes ColdFusion, often times I not only find myself preaching to the choir, but I sometimes find myself defending the product to misinformed or disheartened individuals. In the role of developer I, and many of our readers, find the...
'2005 has been one of the most significant years in history for ColdFusion developers and Web developers in general,' writes CFDJ Editor-in-Chief Simon Horwith. '2006 looks to be a very promising year as well, between the impending release of Flex 2, the beginning of seeing what Adobe ...
Adobe has been very successful in selling into the enterprise. This can only help ColdFusion going forward,' says Dave Mendels, in this exclusive interview with ColdFusion Developer's Journal. Here Dave discusses 'Scorpio,' how the ColdFusion product development team is already hard at...
It's official - the Adobe acquisition of Macromedia has been finalized and our beloved ColdFusion has a new home. Is this a bad thing? No, not at all. There was a lot of talk within the community about how this may adversely effect the server, but talk is cheap and, in this case, also ...
I have also noted many people expressing question and concern on various list servers. Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me tell you that the future is looking great. Of course, I don't work for Macromedia/Adobe, so why should you believe me? Maybe you shouldn't... but I've gone straight...
As a developer I tend to focus my attention on learning the tools that best meet my immediate project needs. As a Macromedia Certified Instructor I am in the position of having to learn all of the new features and tools, even those that I may not personally use very often in developmen...
It was exactly one year ago that ColdFusion Developer's Journal began focusing heavily on a different topic every month. The feedback that I hear from our readers at conferences and via email indicates that it has been a well-received change in format. While there is no plan to stop ...
Macromedia has been offering ColdFusion Developer Certification since version 4.5 was released. Though it's arguable that there is no such thing as an exam that accurately measures a person's ability to develop applications, some employers do value such things and there's no denying t...
Several years ago I reviewed DRIA - 'Developing Rich Internet Applications.' At the time it was the first official Macromedia Curriculum course to teach Rich Internet Application development. I thought I'd do a follow-up on that, as things have changed in the past couple of years.
In addition to the XML and community articles I've mentioned, we also have some terrific articles about other topics. In the regular 'Macromedia Speaks Out' column, Tim Buntel introduces the ColdFusion Administrator API. This API is new in CFMX 7 and allows developers to programmatical...
July was an exceptionally active month in the ColdFusion Community. First, the month began with the conclusion of the CFUnited Conference. Formerly known as 'CFUN,' CFUnited was a ColdFusion Conference the likes of which I haven't seen since the old DevCon days.
On ColdFusion's 10th Birthday, ColdFusion Developer's Journal editor-in-chief Simon Horwith sat down with one of the true pioneers of the Web, the man who started it all, Jeremy Allaire, to talk about the past, present, and future of ColdFusion...
