I completely agree with your point about processing moving to the client's side. I want to point out that ColdFusion is embracing that shift in paradigm, especially in the upcoming release, ColdFusion 8, that is slated to have a lot of nice and easy AJAX integration. CF 8 is more than just pretty stuff though; it's got a lot of fine-grain feature improvements in there as well.
I think you would be hard pressed to find a platform that has been as adaptive as ColdFusion has been. It's come a lot further than the CFQUERY tag (not to diminish that though). Consider for a minute its move from CF 5, written in C++, to CF 6 written in Java. Let's see Ruby switch off of Rails to something like "roads" or "orbits".
ColdFusion has been proven in rapid application development (even before that was a buzz-term), but still has the power and extensibility to accomplish some pretty intense things. If you can't figure out how to do something with the proper ease or efficiency you need in ColdFusion, go write something in Java, C++, or even.NET and you can hook it into your ColdFusion application. This interoperability is a huge benefit in multi-lingual workplaces; anyway ever had trouble calling a.NET web service with Java and Axis?
Maybe ColdFusion guys are a dying bread; but one possible reason is because they are picking up other languages along the way to marry with the ColdFusion skills. Once you know Java, it seems to be more chic to call yourself a "Java Developer" than a "ColdFusion Developer". That fact itself may invalidate Mr. Foote's (see TFA) data collection methods; I can't really comment decidedly due to the lack of information about the data.
ColdFusion's reputation has always been plagued by several problems: its uniqueness, not lending itself to any particular design patterns, cost, total lack of presence in the education field, etc. All of those issues have not stopped it from becoming a viable technology that is used in real-word applications. It's been around for over a decade now, and I don't see any new threat to its existence on the horizon and in the absence of such a threat, I can hardly describe it as "dying".
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(Disclaimer: I work mostly in ColdFusion)
.NET and you can hook it into your ColdFusion application. This interoperability is a huge benefit in multi-lingual workplaces; anyway ever had trouble calling a .NET web service with Java and Axis?
I completely agree with your point about processing moving to the client's side. I want to point out that ColdFusion is embracing that shift in paradigm, especially in the upcoming release, ColdFusion 8, that is slated to have a lot of nice and easy AJAX integration. CF 8 is more than just pretty stuff though; it's got a lot of fine-grain feature improvements in there as well.
I think you would be hard pressed to find a platform that has been as adaptive as ColdFusion has been. It's come a lot further than the CFQUERY tag (not to diminish that though). Consider for a minute its move from CF 5, written in C++, to CF 6 written in Java. Let's see Ruby switch off of Rails to something like "roads" or "orbits".
ColdFusion has been proven in rapid application development (even before that was a buzz-term), but still has the power and extensibility to accomplish some pretty intense things. If you can't figure out how to do something with the proper ease or efficiency you need in ColdFusion, go write something in Java, C++, or even
Maybe ColdFusion guys are a dying bread; but one possible reason is because they are picking up other languages along the way to marry with the ColdFusion skills. Once you know Java, it seems to be more chic to call yourself a "Java Developer" than a "ColdFusion Developer". That fact itself may invalidate Mr. Foote's (see TFA) data collection methods; I can't really comment decidedly due to the lack of information about the data.
ColdFusion's reputation has always been plagued by several problems: its uniqueness, not lending itself to any particular design patterns, cost, total lack of presence in the education field, etc. All of those issues have not stopped it from becoming a viable technology that is used in real-word applications. It's been around for over a decade now, and I don't see any new threat to its existence on the horizon and in the absence of such a threat, I can hardly describe it as "dying".