About ColdFusion MX

ColdFusion MX is a rapid scripting environment server for creating Rich Internet Applications. ColdFusion MX CFML is an easy-to-learn tag-based scripting language, with connectivity to enterprise data and powerful built-in search and charting capabilities. ColdFusion MX enables developers to easily build and deploy dynamic websites, content publishing systems, self-service applications, commerce sites, and more.

ColdFusion MX consists of the following core components:

The following sections describe these core components in more detail.

The ColdFusion scripting environment

The ColdFusion scripting environment provides an efficient development model for Internet applications. At the heart of the ColdFusion scripting environment is the ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), a tag-based programming language that encapsulates many of the low-level details of web programming in high-level tags and functions.

ColdFusion Markup Language

ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML) is a tag-based language, similar to HTML, that uses special tags and functions. With CFML, you can enhance standard HTML files with database commands, conditional operators, high-level formatting functions, and other elements to rapidly produce easy-to-maintain web applications. However, CFML is not limited to enhancing HTML. For example, you can create Macromedia Flash MX applications consisting entirely of Flash elements and CFML. Similarly, you can use CFML to create web services for use by other applications.

The following sections briefly describe basic CFML elements. For more information, see Chapter 2, "Elements of CFML".

CFML tags

CFML looks similar to HTML-it includes starting and, in most cases, ending tags, and each tag is enclosed in angle brackets. All ending tags are preceded with a forward slash (/) and all tag names are preceded with cf; for example:

CFML increases productivity by providing a layer of abstraction that hides many low-level details involved with Internet application programming. At the same time, CFML is extremely powerful and flexible. ColdFusion lets you easily build applications that integrate files, databases, legacy systems, mail servers, FTP servers, objects, and components.

CFML includes approximately 100 tags. ColdFusion tags serve many functions. They provide programming constructs, such as conditional processing and loop structures. They also provide services, such as charting and graphing, full-text search, access to protocols such as FTP, SMTP/POP, and HTTP, and much more. The following table lists a few examples of commonly-used ColdFusion tags:


Tag	Purpose
cfquery	Establishes a connection to a database (if one does not exist), executes a query, and returns results to the ColdFusion environment.
cfoutput	Displays output that can contain the results of processing ColdFusion functions, variables, and expressions.
cfset	Sets the value of a ColdFusion variable.
cfmail	Lets an application send SMTP mail messages using application variables, query results, or server files. (Another tag, `cfpop`, gets mail.)
cfchart	Converts application data or query results into graphs, such as bar charts or pie charts, in Flash, JPG, or PNG format.
cfobject	Invokes objects written in other programming languages, including COM components, Java objects such as Enterprise JavaBeans, or CORBA objects.

CFML Reference describes the CFML tags in detail.

CFML functions and CFScript

CFML includes approximately 270 built-in functions. These functions perform a variety of roles, including string manipulation, data management, and system functions. CFML also includes a built-in scripting language, CFScript, that lets you write code in that is familiar to programmers and JavaScript writers.

CFML extensions

You can extend CFML further by creating custom tags or user-defined functions (UDFs), or by integrating COM, C++, and Java components (such as JSP tag libraries). You can also create ColdFusion components, which encapsulate related functions and properties and provide a consistent interface for accessing them.

All these features let you easily create reusable functionality that is customized to the types of applications or websites that you are building.

CFML development tools

Macromedia Dreamweaver MX helps you develop ColdFusion applications efficiently. It includes many features that simplify and enhance ColdFusion development, including tools for debugging CFML. Because CFML is written in an HTML-like text format, and you often use HTML in ColdFusion pages, you can also use an HTML editor or a text editor, such as Notepad, to write ColdFusion applications.

Server-side ActionScript

Another feature of the ColdFusion scripting environment is server-side ActionScript. ActionScript is the JavaScript-based language used to write application logic in Macromedia Flash MX. By bringing this language to the server, ColdFusion MX enables Flash developers to use their familiar scripting environment to connect to ColdFusion resources and deliver the results to client-side applications using the integrated Macromedia Flash Remoting service. Using server-side ActionScript Flash programmers can create ColdFusion services, such as SQL queries, for use by Flash clients.

For more information about using Server-Side ActionScript in ColdFusion MX, see Using Server-Side ActionScript in ColdFusion MX.

ColdFusion application services

The ColdFusion application services are a set of built-in services that extend the capabilities of the ColdFusion scripting environment. These services include the following:

The ColdFusion MX Administrator

The ColdFusion MX Administrator configures and manages the ColdFusion application server. It is a secure web-based application that you can access using any web browser, from any computer with an Internet connection.

You can manage the following options with the ColdFusion Administrator:

For more information about the ColdFusion Administrator, see Administering ColdFusion MX.

Developing ColdFusion MX Applications with CFML
Introduction to ColdFusion MX