Yesterday I was tasked with creating a backend for a system I helped write in PHP a few months back. My role would be database design, the registration form, and creating some functions to spit out XML for Flash.

Now the first language I learned was PHP. I loved it actually. There was a function for everything and it was all very logical. Every tag opened must have a closing tag, even nested tags – no exceptions.

But when I started playing with ColdFusion, all the painful parts were lifted away. The database queries, the cfoutput that automatically loops through results… no need anymore to open or close database connections. And the cfcs! For whatever reason I find the ColdFusion components so much easier to write than for PHP.

Which brings me back to the backend I was asked to create. I’d created a version of it in PHP already but it was essentially the first thing I ever programmed, and looking back I know I can do better. But having delved into CFML so much in the last few months, my brain is having a hard time switching gears to go back, not to mention the relative simplicity involved in just redoing it properly.

Problem is, my work associates are loathe to purchase a second Adobe ColdFusion license for another $5k. It’s a big chunk of cash and I can hardly blame them, even if we could afford it. So I fell back onto something I discovered a few weeks back. An open-source CFML community. Specifically I looked at Open BlueDragon, Railo and Smith Project. I ultimately chose Railo after comparing the functions and tags I intended to use. After a small tweak to a config file I had it up and running, so I tested all of my old CFM files to compare how they would render compared to Adobe CF8. Completely identical visually, though there was some variation in the debug output at the bottom – and no flash form support. Which is ok because I don’t need it for this particular system.

So now that I’ve picked out my language, processor, and have a project to work on, I may have lots to write about in the days ahead as I make new discoveries. I look forward to sharing my findings.