ColdFusion Heats Up First update in two years supports latest Java

ColdFusion Heats Up First update in two years supports latest Java
By Alex Handy

June 15, 2007 — ColdFusion is overdue for some heat—and after two years, it’s going to support the latest versions of Java, and will have enhancements for working with Portable Document Format (PDF) documents.

Since Adobe Systems acquired Macromedia in 2005, the ColdFusion software development framework and application server had been pushed to the side by the “buzz” of Flex and Flash and Apollo. But in late May, Adobe finally released a public beta of a revamped and retooled ColdFusion, version 8. The company hopes that new back-end integration support will help to push the framework back into the limelight.

Tim Buntel, senior product marketing manager for ColdFusion, said that this new version of the software shows the results of a hefty injection of Adobe’s DNA into the project. He said that the primary change this time around has been the addition of numerous new crossovers and capabilities for the ColdFusion suite of software. These include new support around PDF, integrations with databases, added compatibility with JBoss’ application server and a whole slew of code updates that bring this Web environment up to the present day.

As ColdFusion is composed of a number of different parts, each aspect had to be updated to keep in step with the rapid pace of innovation in the software industry, said Buntel. ColdFusion’s server-side component is written in Java, and thus runs on a Java application server. This time around, Adobe has updated the software to work with Java SE 5 and Java SE 6, as well as with JBoss’ tooling. Additionally, the product now includes debugging features that can be used inside of Adobe’s Eclipse-based Flex Builder IDE.

Buntel said that monitoring and debugging ColdFusion applications has been a high priority for his development team. “ColdFusion’s reputation is about productivity. We’re adding a bunch of features to make developers more productive. We’ve added a server monitor. It gives you deep insight into what’s happening on the server, such as memory usage [and] database query caching, and it can offer some guidance on how to improve code and fix problems if they arise.”

ColdFusion’s self-titled markup language has received an overhaul as well. CFML has been tweaked and modernized to be more in line with current Web development needs, said Buntel. “With a 12-year-old product, we want to make sure the language continues to meet the needs of the developers. We’re letting the language be used in a more object-oriented way. We’re adding data integration services and things like data sync and data push. You can manage data as it moves back and forth.”

And it wouldn’t be an Adobe product without massive new PDF support built in. ColdFusion 8 applications can output and receive information in PDF form, and can populate forms inside those PDFs with information they’ve gathered on the fly, said Buntel.

ColdFusion 8 will be in a feature-complete preview through mid-2007, according to Buntel.

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