
Contents > Developing ColdFusion MX Applications > Introduction

Introduction

Developing ColdFusion MX Applications provides the tools needed to develop Internet applications using Macromedia ColdFusion MX. This book is intended for web application programmers who are learning ColdFusion MX or wish to extended their ColdFusion MX programming knowledge. It provides a solid grounding in the tools that ColdFusion MX provides to develop web applications.

Because of the power and flexibility of ColdFusion MX, you can create many different types of web applications of varying complexity. As you become more familiar with the material presented in this manual, and begin to develop your own applications, you will want to refer to CFML Reference for details about various tags and functions.

Using this book
About Macromedia ColdFusion MX documentation

Using this book

This book can to help anyone with a basic understanding of HTML learn to develop ColdFusion. However, this book is most useful if you have basic ColdFusion experience, or have read Getting Started Building ColdFusion MX Applications. The Getting Started book provides an introduction to ColdFusion and helps you develop the basic knowledge that will make using this book easier.

Approaches to using this book

This section describes approaches to using this book for beginning ColdFusion developers, developers with some experience who want to develop expertise, and advanced developers who want to learn about the new and enhanced features of ColdFusion MX.

Beginning with ColdFusion

If you are learning ColdFusion, a path such as the following might be most effective:

Introduction to ColdFusion MX through Using Expressions and Pound Signs to learn the basics of CFML.
Introduction to Databases and SQL through Updating Your Database to learn about using databases.
Retrieving and Formatting Data and Building Dynamic Forms to learn about requesting data from users.
At this point, you should have a basic understanding of the basic elements of ColdFusion and can create simple ColdFusion applications. To learn to produce more complete and robust applications, you could proceed with the following chapters.
Designing and Optimizing a ColdFusion Application through Debugging and Troubleshooting Applications to learn how to build a complete ColdFusion application.
Using Query of Queries to learn how to use queries effectively.
Using Arrays and Structures through Building and Using ColdFusion Components to learn to use more advanced features of CFML, including ways to reuse code.

You can then read the remaining chapters as you add new features to your ColdFusion application.

Developing an in-depth knowledge of ColdFusion

If you have a basic understanding of ColdFusion as presented in Getting Started Building ColdFusion MX Applications or the Fast Track to ColdFusion course, you might want to start at Chapter 1 and work through to the end of the book, skipping any specialized chapters that you are unlikely to need.

Learning about new and modified ColdFusion features

If you are an advanced ColdFusion developer, you might want to learn about new or changed ColdFusion MX features. In this case, you start with Migrating ColdFusion Applications; then read selected chapters in this book. The following chapters document features that are new or substantially enhanced in ColdFusion MX:

Nearly all chapters contain information that is new in ColdFusion MX, so you should also review all other chapters for useful information. The index and the table of contents are useful tools for finding new features or changed documentation.

About Macromedia ColdFusion MX documentation

The ColdFusion MX documentation is designed to provide support for the complete spectrum of participants.

Documentation set

The ColdFusion MX documentation set includes the following titles:

Book	Description
Installing and Using ColdFusion MX	Describes system installation and basic configuration for Windows, Solaris, Linux, and HP-UX.
Configuring and Administering ColdFusion MX	Part I describes how to manage the ColdFusion environment, including connecting to your data sources and configuring security for your applications. Part II describes Verity search tools and utilities that you can use for configuring the Verity K2 Server search engine, as well as creating, managing, and troubleshooting Verity collections.
Developing ColdFusion MX Applications	Describes how to develop your dynamic web applications, including retrieving and updating your data, using structures, and forms.
Getting Started Building ColdFusion MX Applications	Contains an overview of ColdFusion features and application development procedures. Includes a tutorial that guides you through the process of developing an example ColdFusion application.
CFML Reference	Provides descriptions, syntax, usage, and code examples for all ColdFusion tags, functions, and variables.
CFML Quick Reference	A brief guide that shows the syntax of ColdFusion tags, functions, and variables.

Viewing online documentation

All ColdFusion MX documentation is available online in HTML and Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Go to the documentation home page for ColdFusion MX on the Macromedia website: www.macromedia.com.


Contents > Developing ColdFusion MX Applications > Introduction

Version 6.1

Comments are no longer accepted for ColdFusion MX 6.1. ColdFusion 8 is the current version.