Web Services Made Easy
Macromedia ColdFusion MX
by Michael Hurwicz
New Architect
October 2002
In the first major overhaul of ColdFusion since acquiring it from Allaire in 2001, Macromedia has totally rearchitected and rewritten ColdFusion's C++ code base in Java. While the rewrite assures greater portability and adherence to Web services standards, as well as opening up a world of Java-based capabilities, new code increases the possibility of new bugs. What's more, a total rewrite might have distracted Macromedia from adding significant features.
Now ColdFusion MX is here. Good news: Not only is it stable, but significant new features abound. And while this review focuses on ColdFusion MX, keep in mind that this one application has been revised as part of a strategic reorientation of Macromedia's product line toward the Web services market.
Web Services
The key to publishing and consuming
Web services using ColdFusion MX is the ColdFusion Component (CFC), a new feature in ColdFusion MX. A CFC is a self-documenting, self-contained bundle of methods (functions) that can be invoked both locally on the ColdFusion server and remotely. Physically,
a ColdFusion component is embodied in a file with the extension .CFC.
The extremely straightforward interface ColdFusion MX offers for creating and accessing components is impressive. And ColdFusion offers a great deal of flexibility when it comes to invoking component methods, which can be done in one of five ways: using ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML); using CFScript (a server-side scripting language with a subset of ColdFusion functionality); from a Web services client with SOAP; from a Flash application via Flash Remoting; or using a URL that calls
a CFC file and passes the method name
as a URL parameter.
At a Glance |
| | ColdFusion MX |
|
| Company | Macromedia |
|
| URL |
|
|
