We used ColdFusion 1.5 way back in time. Later I co-founded a software company building a SaaS based PRM application using CF 4.X and moving to Java after 1 year. Most people were embarrassed to admit that they code in ColdFusion. Java was sooo the thing to go. But with Java development time slowed down, testing time increased, more and more regression....

I sold my shares and started my very own, new SaaS / Web 2.0 company in 2007 and explored my options:
1) Java / LAMP / Ajax what have you
2) Ruby on Rail
3) ColdFusion

JAVA
We explored the mainstream Java realm and found that this would be best because we simply find the most resources. But the drawback would have been that it takes longer to develop and is harder to debug and harder to maintain.

RoR
Very cool - definitely a new wave, hot stuff lot of people behind it. It is easy to use and there is already a bunch of software and open source code out there we could build on. However we found it gets quickly confusing in large business apps. There are a lot of people but not enough. It lacks of rich UI options unless you go back to coding it. AND it is just not as solid as other technologies.

ColdFusion
Well it's "only" a tag based language. But we realized that MX7 is just massive. We thought about TAG-Language: And found out that a quad core 3 MHz CPU would not even realize the difference between a TAG and a compiled piece of code that is processed by using today's massive classes and all the other overhead:
- Bottleneck No.1 is any kind of query (regardless of the language)
- Everything else: Only the internet pipe makes a difference - no longer the sever
The clear GO for ColdFusion however was not technology AT ALL. It was that the design-to-deploy cycle was so much faster than anything we saw. Rapid Development is the key for any SaaS or Web 2.0 company. It will soon be a race for functionality focusing on ease of development, ease of testing, ease of deployment and ease of use.
At the end the decision was made: we go with ColdFusion.
The biggest obstacle is to find enough talents.

Anybody else out there building SaaS or Web 2.0 applications with ColdFusion?

I am NOT embarrassed to state: Xeequa is a ColdFusion shop.

Please forgive me. The year is 2007. It all started way back 1995. Come July I will be a pathetic CFML developer for thirteen years. I mean how sad is that? I can't get enough. I even have to be on the beta for the next installment (Scorpio). You would think that Blackstone and RedSky would be enough. Not for me - not yet.

Save me please. I mean it can't get any better surely!!!

Argh!

PT - CF developer since floppy days.

www.actcfug.com

Axel. ColdFusion IS Java. Just smarter. You can even (with Enterprise) compile to Java so your source code is safe.

Axel. ColdFusion IS Java. Just smarter. You can even (with Enterprise) compile to Java so your source code is safe.

I think I don't even need to do that - We are Software as a Service, so nobody would even touch our software ;-)

Please forgive me. The year is 2007. It all started way back 1995. Come July I will be a pathetic CFML developer for thirteen years. I mean how sad is that? I can't get enough. I even have to be on the beta for the next installment (Scorpio). You would think that Blackstone and RedSky would be enough. Not for me - not yet.

Save me please. I mean it can't get any better surely!!!

Argh!

PT - CF developer since floppy days.

www.actcfug.com

How cool is that :-)
Would you be willing to help me here and there? One of the issues I haven't solved yet is to BIND multiple CFSELECT and multiple RADIOBUTTON to a CFGRID.
Thanks
Axel

At this stage that might be beyond what "out of the box" ColdFusion can do now. Join the Scorpio beta and who knows.

I can't say anymore for fear of the dreaded NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement). But expect to be impressed.

The more beta testers the better!

I heave read the NDA - you know what I mean ;-)
Just call me CFAJAXEL *lol*

At this stage that might be beyond what "out of the box" ColdFusion can do now. Join the Scorpio beta and who knows.

I can't say anymore for fear of the dreaded NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement). But expect to be impressed.

The more beta testers the better!

I also have been using CF since 1995. I have learned other languages since but CF is where I started. In all my years of doing internet development I have yet to see any language that can do what CF can do right out of the box. Then add the development speed into the mix and it is untouchable. I think it will be a long time before we see anything that can claim it is an apples to apples competitor to CF.

--Dave

www.dkferguson.com/BlogCFC