ColdFusion is NOT Dead!
(October '02)
Hooray! I've been using ColdFusion for several years, and decided (finally) to upgrade to the new
MX "thing." So I grabbed a copy of PC Connection to find an upgrade price. Hmmm... upgrades to CF Studio 4.5,
CF MX Server upgrade, Studio MX upgrade, but no CF Studio MX? I searched every bit of printed information in
this esteemed catalogue and many others, and found NO reference to CF Studio MX. This seemed odd, since
Macromedia so recently acquired ColdFusion. I wouldn't expect them to immediately discontinue it.
I did notice that Dreamweaver MX has "everything you need to..." but when I encounter this type of pap,
which characterizes much of Macromedia's official "deer in the headlights" writing style, I reflexively skip to
the next paragraph. Where is ColdFusion Studio MX?
So I headed out to the Macromedia website. Search, search search... EVENTUALLY I spotted a virtual footnote
stating that Studio MX comes with a "Developer Version of ColdFusion Server MX." Great... so I continue to
use the CF 4.5 editor with CF MX?
Back to the PC Connection catalogue. Again, NO mention of CF Studio or "Developer CF Server." Does the Studio MX
package sold by PC Connection lack the Developer CF? They don't mention anything about it.
Maybe PC Connection is selling "old"
boxes of stuff that lack the CF? Or maybe not? Maybe CF's presence in Studio MX is so obscure that the
PC Connection folks aren't aware of its presence? So maybe if I purchase CF Studio it will actually have what I
need?
So I ordered Studio MX from PC Connection and waited. It arrived. No mention of Developer CF Server on the box.
No wait. What is this? Way down on the left, hidden amongst various important logos like "WROX Press," in the
tiniest legible writing possible by the printing press is the text: "CF MX Server Developer Edition Included."
OK. Wow. So now I have the CF MX thing. What about an editor? So I start rooting around for a hidden editor that
might accompany the hidden CF Server. Search, search, search. Flip through this table of contents and that.
(Actually, I didn't flip through the table of contents because these are typically useless... particularly
in the important writings from WROX Press.)
Anyway, to make a long long story short, I eventually noticed that Dreamweaver (a drag-n-drop editor that
"real" programmers eschew) has become the CF editor. In other words, CF Studio MX = a server mentioned only in
the fine print, and Dreamweaver now includes "extensive code and server script editing support." What is
ColdFusion? Isn't it some water and wires and crazy scientists who publish quack research papers?
So Macromedia takes a very prominent product with world-recognized branding and turns it into a footnote.
And it's not just me... Even the PC Connection folks are apparently unaware of this fact. (They're still selling
CF 4.5 Studio Upgrades.) How can this be? Well gosh, I don't know. But given Macromedia's typical glossy fuzzy
writing style, its no surprise... If meaning is lost, who cares? After all, Macromedia has tech notes.
In conclusion, I am fully prepared for the expected reactionary pounce by a horde of Macromedia "Evangelists"
crying "Blasphemy! Macromedia Defiler! It's that Jensen guy again! Tie him to a chair and toss him in
a lake!" Sorry. The moat is dug. The walls are fortified. I live in Idaho. Come find me if you can (I dare you).
Whatever....
