Product Review

Book Review: Head First PMP

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:15:00 EDT

Have you tried to prepare yourself for PMP certification or exam? If so, then you share with me the opinion that most of the PMP books and guides are remarkable of hundreds of pages that are full of hard to understand complex sentences that leave you by the end of studying day dizzy and could hardly get couple of information to remember.

Product Review: Adobe Flash Player 10

Fri, 30 May 2008 08:15:00 EDT

I might have skipped some of the new features of Flash Player 10, but you can always refer to the official FAQ page. Visit Plash Players 10 page on Adobe Labs to download new player (there is no debug version yet). The standalone debug versions are also available. You can use the official demos and Flash Player 10 API documentation to build your applications using special version of Flex SDK. Adobe's Flash Player team made a substantial progress with new release of this very solid VM, which makes it even more solid platform in the RIA space.

BrowserHawk 9 by cyScape

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 13:15:00 EST

I have been developing Web applications for years, and have been using random JavaScript snippets gleaned from the Web to test a user's browser and configured properties. Since this script would be run client side, it required the user to have JavaScript enabled and didn't always work in all browsers.

CFDJ Product Review "CFMX Exam Buster 7"

Sun, 16 Oct 2005 11:15:00 EDT

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 that it certainly doesn't hurt to have the certification listed on one's resume. To help developers practice and prepare for the certification exam, CentraSoft offers their CFMX Exam Buster software, recently updated for the ColdFusion MX 7 Certification exam.

CFEclipse: The Developer's IDE, Eclipse For ColdFusion

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 06:30:00 EDT

Many paths lead developers to ColdFusion. In the past ColdFusion was often viewed as an entry-level language enabling designers and other nonprogrammers to build dynamic sites. Since the release of CFMX it has become more recognized among developers familiar with languages such as Java and PHP.

Introducing...ColdFusion MX 7

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EST

After an entire year spent meeting with and speaking to thousands of ColdFusion developers, the CF team at Macromedia are unleashing this month the feature-rich new release, CFMX 7.

Macromedia Flex Builder 1.5

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EST

Over the past couple of months I've been introducing you to some of the fantastic possibilities Macromedia Flex offers for building Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) with ColdFusion ('Flex Your ColdFusion Muscles,' CFDJ Vol. 6, issue 12 and 'Data Presentation with Macromedia Flex,' CFDJ Vol. 7, issue 1), and I hope you've been motivated to begin experimenting with Flex yourself.

Bearing Fruit with Plum

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EST

Plum stands for Practical Lightweight Universal Methodology, and consists of a comprehensive development environment that includes a Windows-based IDE; code generator; robust application framework; development methodology; simple integrated Content Management System (CMS); and stored procedure, unit test, and component generators. Plum accomplishes so much for a ColdFusion developer that it can literally be overwhelming trying to grok it all at first glance.

CommonSpot 4.0 from PaperThin, Inc.

Tue, 22 Jun 2004 00:00:00 EDT

CommonSpot Content Server, developed by PaperThin, Inc., has been simplifying Web site development and authoring since its introduction in 1998. On April 8, 2004, the newest generation, version 4.0, was released. Web Content Management products usually seek to empower nontechnical users by allowing them to modify Web content from their desktops;

Code Co-op Version Control Software from Reliable Software

Tue, 11 May 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Question: Who needs version control? Answer: Every developer. Most people think of versioning control software as something that should be left to big companies and large teams. However, version control is a good idea for everyone.

CFX-Advanced VPS Hosting from CFXHosting

Tue, 09 Mar 2004 00:00:00 EST

There comes a time in the life of almost every developer when he or she needs to host a Web site. Unfortunately, not all of us can have a T1 running to our basement with a dual-processor Pentium 4 running our site. No, we developers - and businesses - must look elsewhere for help. Unless you have a lot of money, that typically means you'll be part of a shared hosting environment.

MAX 2003 Show Report

Tue, 13 Jan 2004 16:28:37 EST

In last month's issue of CFDJ, Simon Horwith reported on MAX 2003 and all it had to offer. Here, we follow CFDJ editor-in-chief Rob Diamond as he checked out the floor of MAX 2003.

The Benefits of Well-Written Software

Tue, 13 Jan 2004 00:00:00 EST

Mae West, the indomitable actress/comedienne of the 1930s and '40s, left us with some unforgettable quotes. She gave us such lines as, 'When caught between two evils, I generally pick the one I've never tried before,' and 'Too much of a good thing...can be wonderful.' She also offered the ironic observation that 'Virtue is its own reward.'

FLiPping the Software Development Process

Tue, 09 Dec 2003 00:00:00 EST

In the past, I've written in broad terms about FLiP, the Fusebox Lifecycle Process, a methodology for delivering successful software projects that work (despite its name) with any - or no - software framework. In this article, I want to 'drill down' on one aspect of FLiP and see how it is used in practice.

Unnatural Acts

Tue, 11 Nov 2003 11:09:08 EST

Ah, television! Where else can you see so much action? Murders are routinely committed and solved, dastardly plots are hatched and foiled, and characters learn some deep life-truth - all within a single hour.

Working in a Distributed Development Team

Tue, 11 Nov 2003 00:00:00 EST

Think of the problems you encountered during your last project, then imagine the team spread across different floors or buildings, or even continents! The problems and pitfalls are greatly magnified to a point where development is severely hindered.

ColdFusion and SQL Server Permission Integration, Part 2

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 00:00:00 EDT

This article is a continuation of the how-to guide (Part 1 ran last month) for setting up a ColdFusion 5 server and a Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 to execute a DTS package through the ColdFusion server.

Build a Simple Mach-II Application

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 00:00:00 EDT

In the August edition of CFDJ, Ben Edwards and I presented a first look at Mach-II, a new, object-oriented framework for building software applications. In this issue, I offer a tutorial (with commentary) on building a simple Mach-II application.

WysiDraw 1.0

Thu, 11 Sep 2003 00:00:00 EDT

Have you ever wanted to chat simultaneously with two or more of your friends, but each of you uses a different chatting medium? Have you ever participated in a teleconference where you had the pleasure of waiting for the administrator/moderator's e-mail of presentation modifications? Perhaps you were that moderator, frustrated that the company's chosen third-party collaboration platform had once again crashed, leaving your presentation dead in the water.

Fusebox 4

Thu, 11 Sep 2003 00:00:00 EDT

The latest version of Fusebox - version 4 - has been taken out of beta and placed into general availability. Over the last seven years, Fusebox has grown from a collection of best practices and snippets of code into a full-featured, robust framework on which developers can build true Web applications.

ColdFusion and SQL Server Permission Integration

Thu, 11 Sep 2003 00:00:00 EDT

In this article, I'll show you how to set up a ColdFusion 5 server and a Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 that will execute a DTS package through the ColdFusion server. The main objective is to create a DTS package that will result in file output that will be delivered to a network UNC path or mapped drive using a set of stored procedures executed by ColdFusion.

Setting Up Your Development Server with ColdFusion 5, MX, and BlueDragon

Thu, 11 Sep 2003 00:00:00 EDT

The world of ColdFusion application servers is quite interesting at the moment. Macromedia's recent update to CFMX 6.1 promises to add a lot of stability and speed to the product. BlueDragon, New Atlanta's alternate CFML runtime engine continues to gain momentum. Yet despite these two great products, much of the development out there is still based on ColdFusion 5 (or earlier).

How to Find the Right Hosting Service

Thu, 11 Sep 2003 00:00:00 EDT

ColdFusion developers are faced with lots of choices when trying to find a ColdFusion hosting service that meets their needs. It can be tough locating a host that offers the right combination of features, service, and support at a price that's right for a variety of developers. In the March 2003 issue (CFDJ, Vol. 5, issue 3), we conducted our first interview with a ColdFusion hosting provider. This month, we interview Edgewebhosting.net CEO Vlad A. Friedman for the skinny on his company's ColdFusion hosting services.

Mach-II

Tue, 12 Aug 2003 00:00:00 EDT

With the release of the MX version, ColdFusion has moved from its strict procedural programming background toward object-oriented design and programming. This move has evoked both hope and fear in developers, some welcoming the decidedly new concepts of object orientation (OO) and some dreading that they will lose the language they love.

LayerIT Content Management System from LayerIT AS

Tue, 12 Aug 2003 00:00:00 EDT

After evaluating and deploying a number of content management systems over the past five years, I guess I've become a bit jaded. Frankly, they all just started to look the same. To be sure, each one has core strengths and weaknesses. Each is usually geared to fit a certain vertical market (education, for example), and many have similar levels of functionality. All of them have significant usability issues - particularly when authoring content that requires HTML tables.

The Best Recipe

Fri, 11 Jul 2003 00:00:00 EDT

About two years ago, I decided that it would be 'fun' to learn to cook. I figured I would be a quick learner; after all, I liked to eat (passion for the subject), I had been a skilled cabinetmaker (possessed manual skills), and I enjoyed watching 'Iron Chef' on the Food Network (had an available learning resource). Compared to cabinetmaking and software development, how hard could it be?

One Product for All: Dreamweaver MX

Fri, 11 Jul 2003 00:00:00 EDT

Dreamweaver has been around for years. We've all seen it in some version or other, but it has finally come into its own in the most recent version, MX.

System Thinking

Mon, 16 Jun 2003 00:00:00 EDT

In several recent CFDJ articles, I've described software architecture as akin to model building. In both designing software models and building scale models, it's important that the model be internally consistent as well as sufficiently rich to encompass the desired behaviors of the real-world system.

Macromedia's Data File Access API Architecture Unleashed

Mon, 16 Jun 2003 00:00:00 EDT

Like its predecessors, Macromedia's most recent installment of the Devnet Resource Kit (DRK 3) is stocked with many excellent utilities for Flash developers. Unlike previous releases, DRK 3 aims to make the lives of ColdFusion developers easier by including many applications and development tools for use in CFMX applications. One of these is an Application Programming Interface I developed called the Data File Access API (DFA API).

The Power of Antipatterns

Thu, 01 May 2003 00:00:00 EDT

It seems that lately, you can't pick up a book or magazine without hearing about design patterns. If you're new to the idea of design patterns, they're simply time-tested solutions to common problems. Design patterns began with the work of Christopher Alexander, a PhD in architecture (as in buildings).

Breathing Life into a Time-Tested Curriculum

Thu, 01 May 2003 00:00:00 EDT

I recently reviewed Macromedia's new 'Developing Rich Internet Applications' (CFDJ, Vol. 5, issue 2) course to make developers interested in adding Flash to their arsenal aware of this terrific new offering from Macromedia Training.

Teamstudio Screensurfer

Thu, 01 May 2003 00:00:00 EDT

Every developer will at some point have to integrate his or her work with a legacy system running on a mainframe platform. These projects tend to be both painful and challenging due in no small part to the limited information- sharing capabilities of outdated, albeit stable, systems. XML and Web services didn't exist when some of these applications were written. The concept of browser-based applications was years away. Green-screen applications were the norm and dinosaurs ruled the earth (just kidding about that last part).

Web Services Edge 2003 East International Web Services Conference & Expo

Thu, 01 May 2003 00:00:00 EDT

When SYS-CON Media's sister company, SYS-CON Events, began preparing last year for this spring's 'Web Services Edge' Conference & Expo, one consideration was paramount: every effort in the nine-month preparation cycle should be geared toward making it indisputably the world's largest independent Java, .NET, XML, and Web services event.

10 Mistakes Fuseboxers Make

Thu, 03 Apr 2003 00:00:00 EST

In the last year, I've seen a great number of developers make the commitment to learn Fusebox - and for good reason: the Fusebox framework and the Fusebox Lifecycle Process (FLiP) give developers both a framework and a methodology that work well in creating Web applications. Even so, there are still many pitfalls that can trip up Fusebox programmers. If you're learning Fusebox, here are some tips on avoiding common mistakes:

Site Executive 3.0 Content Management System

Thu, 03 Apr 2003 00:00:00 EST

Site Executive 3.0 promises ease of use, standardization, rapid site implementation, rights- and role-based security, versioning, workflow, and easy custom module implementation. It largely succeeds in these areas. Load balancing and failover are also supported. This version does not have true localization support, but it's planned for future versions. Double-byte characters are supported.

Blueprint 1.5 from Ivis Technologies, Inc.

Fri, 28 Feb 2003 00:00:00 EST

Over the last nine years, I must have coded at least 100 ColdFusion applications. Many of these contained similar features - calendaring, e-commerce, content management, and dynamic survey forms. Several were 'one-offs' - based on work done for previous customers with some modified behavior and rebranding. Others were architected to work in either a dedicated or 'Application Service Provider' mode. All of them required an administrative interface with an accompanying security model that required a significant amount of time to reimplement.

ColdFusion Server Recovery

Fri, 28 Feb 2003 00:00:00 EST

Have you ever built that 'killer' ColdFusion app only to have server problems bring your application to a grinding halt? Fortunately, armed with a little knowledge and a few batch files, most issues in ColdFusion 4.0-5.0 are easily resolvable in less than 60 seconds.

CFMX Exam Buster from CentraSoft

Fri, 28 Feb 2003 00:00:00 EST

Do you shave your entire body?' It's kind of an odd question (and might get you a funny look or a slap in the face depending on who you ask!), but if you were to ask a world-class swimmer, the answer would almost certainly be 'yes.' If you're serious about competition, you need to be willing to take the necessary steps to give you an edge. In these days of stiff job competition, getting certified in technical skill sets may make the difference between landing your dream job or continuing to dream.

A Developer's Story Part 2

Fri, 28 Feb 2003 00:00:00 EST

In last month's article, I introduced you to a company with a project in jeopardy. When I was called in to analyze the situation, I discovered that the project was a major revision; the first version had been very successful, but now the company was running into problems. I promised the CIO that I would make a presentation to his key development team. In preparation for that meeting, I found myself at a local store, Frank's House of Models…

A Developer's Story, Part 1

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 00:00:00 EST

'Actually, it's no one's fault.' This was the conclusion I had come to after a week of working on a nightmare project I had been called in on. The CIO had asked me for a briefing on what I had found so far. 'But how could this be such a mess?' the CIO wanted to know. 'Granted, the project involves a sizable change of an existing piece of software, but that was written only three years ago. I've got 1,500 customers waiting to use this new version. It's very high profile - and we can't get it out the door. Costs are crazy. I don't even want to think how far above budget we are. We've missed so many ship dates that the developers won't even guess when it might really be ready.'