Cold Fusion

The Internet has had an enormous impact on the way applications are developed and deployed, especially with respect to the user interface. An application might require a "thin" client that can run in the browser, and rely on the server to process the data. Others applications might require a traditional "power" desktop client with full interaction capabilities. Many applications require both the thin and power clients, often aimed at different categories of end users. ILOG JViews is designed to help developers deploy their user interfaces to multiple types of clients.

Cold Fusion Advantages

•   Allows rapid development of Applications as no coding other than the use of simple HTML style tags is required •   Easy to test and roll out applications •   Ability to create individualized functions •   Allows easy maintainability of application as no compilation is required •   Includes hooks needed to link to almost any database application •   Contains inbuilt tools to troubleshoot and debug applications •   Uses a service based architecture which makes it very fast

Features of Cold Fusion:

Web Application Server

ColdFusion is an application that runs on a web server. Currently, it runs on Linux, Solaris, and Windows Servers. The ColdFusion Web Application Server works with the HTTP server to process requests for web pages. Whenever a ColdFusion page is requested, the ColdFusion Application Server executes the script or program the page contains.

Programming Language

ColdFusion is a language. It can create and modify variables just like other languages you may be familiar with. It has program flow controls like "IF, Switch Case, Loop, etc". It has many built in functions for performing more complicated tasks.

Database Language

It is not a Database Language, but ColdFusion makes interacting with your database (Sybase, Oracle, MySQL, MS-SQL Server, MS-Access and etc.,) simple with the help of tags. Using standard SQL (Structured Query Language) the web pages and web applications can easily retrieve, store, format, and present information dynamically.

Tag Based

A piece of CFML looks similar to regular HTML, except there is a new set of tags. ColdFusion tags allow you to connect to a database, print data from a database, and do all the things that you need to do with data. For example, you can repeat data over a region or create insert and edit forms that interact with a backend database.

Integrates Technologies

No need to write the JavaScript in the pages, The CF tag <CFFORM> will automatically build all the JavaScript code to verify required fields before the form submits. It has tags to embed COM, CORBA, and Java Applets/Servlets.

Scalable

ColdFusion was designed to build complex, high traffic web sites. Sometimes a web designer’s biggest problem is that a site becomes popular. ColdFusion is designed to run on multi-processor machines, and allows you to build a site that can be run on a "cluster" of servers.

"Server Side" Language

Unlike JavaScript, and Java Applets, which run on the "client", or "web browser", ColdFusion runs on the Web Server. This means that scripts you write in ColdFusion will run the same way on Every Browser.

Use of Cold Fusion

ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML) makes web programming easy for new developers. With more than 70 CFML tags and over 200 custom functions practically any web application can be built quickly. Tools like the server side includes "<CFINCLUDE>" help speed the development and improve the readability of any web site.

ColdFusion can be used on your web site whenever the need for customer interaction arises. It can be used to process forms, make parts of your web site "secure", and gather or publish data. It can also be used it to build web applications like bulletin boards, pop mail clients, online-calendars, and chat rooms. ColdFusion scripts can be written to track hits, clicks, return visits and other valuable traffic statistics.

Cold Fusion provides you with a full range of database interaction functions to create complete dynamic, data-driven Web pages. The range of these interactions include,

•   Query existing database applications for data •   Create dynamic queries facilitating more flexible data retrieval •   Execute stored procedures in databases that support them •   Execute conditional code on-the-fly, to customize responses for specific situations •   Enhance the standard HTML form capabilities with data validation functions •   Customize the display of dates, times, and currency values with formatting functions •   Ease the creation of data entry and data drill-down applications with "Wizards”