RIA Development with Adobe Flex and Flash

I have been noticing a ton of Adobe bashing in my blog reading lately! No Flash on the iPhone, no Flash on the iPad, ColdFusion is dead …. on and on. I suppose everyone has their opinions and passions but personally I just try to focus on the small things in life that make me happy …. like getting my work done FAST so I can go out an have some fun! Just one of the reasons why I am staying with ColdFusion:

10. FAST - yes ColdFusion is fast, it is fast to learn, fast to implement and fast to code. ColdFusion is not the first language that I have had to learn and I am sure that it will not be the last. One thing I can say for sure is that I learned ColdFusion FASTER than any other language.

9. ColdFusion is EASY to learn. Yep, I learned it FAST because it is very easy to learn. Especially, if you are from a web designer background. ColdFusion is a processing language looks very simliar to HTML. So, if you are from a static web design background, you will feel right at home with Adobe ColdFusion.

8. You only need a couple of books to learn ColdFusion. Yep, and you really don’t have to look very hard to find them. The ColdFusion 8 Web Application Books by Ben Forta, Ray Camden, et al should be plenty to get you started. Don’t have enough money to buy the WACK books? No worries! You can download the FREE Adobe Authorized ColdFusion Training books and source files from Adobe.com.

7. ColdFusion has two great commercial software tools that you can use for coding. I have been using Adobe Dreamweaver since version one and I will probably always use Dreamweaver. Although I am starting to feel more at home working in ColdFusion Builder, I still prefer to work in DW for CSS and design. ColdFusion Builder will probably be more attractive to you if you are from the JAVA world or if you also work in Adobe Flash Builder. Also, if you already have Eclipse, you can take advantage of the FREE CFEclipse plugin.

6. Oh yeah, the JAVA world. Basically ColdFusion is a set of JAVA modules that reside on your server, handling requests for data and returning it in whatever format you like. So, maybe you know JAVA or .NET and feel you have no need for ColdFusion. More power to ya! I have worked with JAVA programmers in the past and I my current place of employment has plenty of JAVA programmers. Fact is that I don’t want to be a JAVA programmer, nor do I want to be a .NET programmer. I just want to build a quality data driven web site in record time that does not give me code wrangling headaches. ColdFusion is perfect for just that goal.

5. ColdFusion is Adobe software. Oh crap! Now I am starting to sound like an Adobe fan boy. But, actually I am really not an Adobe fanboy. I am a Allaire/Macromedia fanboy that got dumped into the Adobe fanboy club by acquisition. The bottom is that I like the idea of using a web development language that was pioneered by a kick-ass web development tools company and is still backed by the leader in software tools for web development.

4. ‘Where’s the beef?’ ColdFusion works great with other Adobe tools. Really great with other Adobe tools. If you wanna see some of that beef in action, check out this Adobe.tv video: Building a ColdFusion-Powered Apps.

3. But doesn’t ColdFusion cost money? Uh … yep, most good things in life cost money. Don’t ever forget the number one rule of retail: ‘You get what you pay for and you pay for what you get.’ But, with shared hosting services out there you can host your ColdFusion web applications for a reasonable monthly fee. Most ColdFusion hosting providers specialize in just ColdFusion, so you will get great support and expertise if you have any issues. Here are a couple of my favorite CF hosting providers. Fusionlink in Atlanta, GA and CFDynamics in Texas.

2. So you need to host your own dedicated server with ColdFusion? If you are unable to afford the licensing costs of the Enterprise ColdFusion server, you might want to check out Railo - free open source alternative for ColdFusion application development.

1. FAST and EASY! Did I mention that ColdFusion is FAST and EASY. Very easy! With the learning resources above, a few cups of coffee, and a few hours in front of your computer, you will be up and running with your data-driven web site.

And that my friends is why I LOVE ColdFusion. It is fast and easy so that I can get the job done, and then head out for some fast and easy Friday night fun!

ColdFusion Builder beta 3 was released on December 17, 2009. This release provides additional editing features, enhancements, and performance improvements over the last CF Beta version.

Adobe ColdFusion Builder is an Eclipse based IDE for ColdFusion development that is deeply integrated with ColdFusion 9. Now you can manage your entire ColdFusion development cycle from concept to production and work easily with Adobe FlexBuilder in one easy to use tool.

ColdFusion Builder provides a unified, customizable and extensible development environment to code applications, manage servers, and deploy projects. With ORM code generation, CFML code assist, CFC introspection, CFML file preview and integrated debugging, ColdFusion Builder is the rapid application development tool.

Ben Forta talking about the new features in ColdFusion 9:
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/coldfusion/articles/coldfusion9_whatsnew.html
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/coldfusion/articles/cfbuilder_whatsnew.html

Here are the links for public beta of ColdFusion 9:
ColdFusion 9 : http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/coldfusion9/
ColdFusion Builder : http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/coldfusionbuilder/

I’m now tuned back into the Flex Show via Twitter and J Houser. I visited this site some time ago but it was just being launched and fairly new. Obviously, they have been hard at work to continue adding great content to the show. With 66 episodes now there is a ton of great content for quick learning, tips, and tricks in Adobe Flex. Today I’m checking out episode 15.

Want a new ColdFusion 8 Tag Poster. Well, I don’t have any! But, you can click on over to Kristen Schofield’s blog and fill out a quick RIA survey. She seems to know how you can get your hands on one of these.

Come on out and support the Atlanta ColdFusion User Group meeting. Josh Adams is a great presenter and ColdFusion Engineer at Adobe Systems and an all-around nice guy.

Tonight’s session topic will be on Document-driven Applications with ColdFusion & PDF! This will be a great time to visit of you have not yet been to a CFUG meeting in the Atlanta area. For more info and RSVP, check out the local CFUG website.

Adobe TV is adding some pretty good content to the webwaves these days. Here is a link to everyone’s favorite ColdFusion/Flex platform evangelist Ben Forta showing you how to create a ColdFusion Powered Flex App with Adobe Flex 3 and ColdFusion 8.

Back in the classroom this week teaching Dreamweaver Advanced Application Development in Atlanta. This is a great class if you are just getting started with connecting your website to a database with Adobe Dreamweaver. Interestingly enough it was not that long ago that someone from Adobe Systems told me that Dreamweaver was never really meant to be an application development tool. ? That comment puzzled me and the person that said this was a fulll-time employee with Adobe Systems. Well, for software that was never really meant to be an application development tool, Dreamweaver has done a pretty good job at succeeding. However, her comment is correct I suppose.

The history of Dreamweaver for application development. Early on in the days of Dreamweaver version one and two there really were’nt tools built in for easily connecting to a database and creating a dynamically driven web application. Shortly after learning Dreamweaver for design I flew to Atlanta and attended a class for a new Macromedia product by the name of Drumbeat 2000. Without a doubt, this was one of the worst visual editors that I have ever seen. But, it did create ASP code in the background of the WYSIWYG front end. It was not long after that class that Drumbeat 2000 and Dreamweaver merged to become Dreamweaver Ultradev 4. This new version was a nice mix of design tools that had become the standard and new tools in Dreamweaver that would assist the user in connecting to a database and creating some simple CRUD applications. At that time the only server code that Dreamweaver would create was ASP. And,… it did a pretty good job. As time moved on, Macromedia aquired Allaire and then Adobe quired Macromedia. During this transition, as you would guess, ColdFusion has surfaced with more support probably than any other server language that you would work with in Dreamweaver aside traditional ASP. If you are working in PHP, you will also have some great tools build in the Dreamweaver interface for assistance.

In the sort, if you are thinking about moving beyond static web pages into dynamically driven pages with Dreamweaver, you have made a great choice. You can learn some drag and drop features in Dreamweaver and get some pretty quick results. As you are using some of the rapid development wizards in Dreamweaver, you can continue the process of learning the backend code of your choice. If you are working in ColdFusion, Traditional ASP, or PHP, Dreamweaver really shines.

10 years and counting - still teaching the DREAM!

Come on out and support the Atlanta Adobe Flex User Group tonight. Doug Knudsen of Universal Mind will be presenting the methods he uses to proper debug your Flex and AIR coding. Some of the items he will be covering include, trace(), the Flex Builder debugger, ServiceCapture and Charles. For detailed information about this meeting, check out the Atlanta Flash/Flex User Group Site

Come on out and support the Atlanta Flex User Group tomorrow night! According to the latest email from John at fusionlink the place is going to be packed out. They have hit 100 RSVPs for this meeting so far and the space has 140 seats.

Remember, to pass the word around to friends and co-workers. If you are in one of the local schools, please pass the word along to students and faculty. A few minutes of your time can help drive the attendance even higher. Please RSVP on the site.

There are several door prizes that will be given away. Including: - a copy of Flex 3 (to be fulfilled after the launch of the product) - a copy of CS3 Web Premium - an iPod Nano - one FREE Pass to this year’s CFUnited Conference - Two FREE Passes to the 360|Flex Conference in Atlanta (Feb 25-28) - and special Flex branded items

ColdFusion 8 Here is a great opportunity for you to contribute, and let Adobe Systems know what you think would make ColdFusion even better. Check out Damon Coopers blog and take the Adobe ColdFusion Surveys.