This column started life as a series of e-mail threads that then morphed into blog postings at www.forta.com/blog. As these points are important and need to be articulated frequently, I morphed them yet again into a column. Enjoy.

... Java
This seems to be coming up more and more frequently - ColdFusion developers being asked to defend ColdFusion against a planned move to Java and J2EE. And so, in case you end up in this situation, this is what you need to know.

For starters, any suggestion of "we need to stop using ColdFusion because we are going to use Java" demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of what exactly ColdFusion is. So, let's start with a brief explanation of the ColdFusion-Java relationship.

Applications written in ColdFusion (as of ColdFusion MX) are pure Java. Or, expressed slightly differently, ColdFusion runs on a J2EE server (either embedded, or one of your choosing) running a Sun-verified Java application (the ColdFusion engine), executing Java bytecode (compiled from your CFML source code). In other words, CFML (the code you write) is a developer-time consideration, not a run-time consideration. There is no CFML at runtime; at runtime you are executing pure Java, no more or less so than had you written the application in straight Java. Your ColdFusion application is a Java application; if you deploy a ColdFusion application what you have deployed is Java. It's as simple as that.

This means that the assertion that ColdFusion and Java are somehow mutually exclusive is just flat out incorrect. But what about the CFML code you write? Isn't that ColdFusion specific and not pure Java? And isn't that an issue? I don't think so. There is an entire industry of Java add-ons out there - tools, tags, language extensions, and more - and Java shops use these (as they should; after all, why reinvent the wheel?). If your Java code leverages third-party add-ons for reporting, or back-end integration, or charting, or ... does that make your code any less Java? Nope, not at all.

Experienced developers know that starting from step one is expensive and seldom makes sense, regardless of the language and platform. Experienced developers have toolboxes at their disposal, stuff they can leverage and reuse to be as productive as possible. Experienced developers write modular applications, separating logic and processing and presentation into tiers, allowing these to evolve independently of each other, even allowing them to be inserted or removed independently.

For Java developers, one of these tools should be ColdFusion. After all, why write dozens of lines of Java code to connect to a database when a single tag can accomplish the exact same thing (likely using the same code internally)? And why write lots of code to send an SMTP message using JavaMail APIs when a single tag can do it for you (again, using those same APIs)? You can think of ColdFusion as a bunch of prewritten Java code, stuff you can use so as to hit the ground running. And that makes your app no less Java than if you had done all the work manually.

However, some may counter that CFML is proprietary, and that the fact that you need to pay for an engine to execute your code somehow makes it non-Java. I have actually heard this from customers. So is this a valid issue? Again, I don't think so. For starters, paid does not equal proprietary. After all, these same customers do not balk at spending big bucks on their J2EE servers (and management tools and professional services and more). Furthermore, there are indeed third-party CFML engines out there. I am not going to comment on how good they are and how viable an alternative they are - that's irrelevant. What is relevant is that they exist, and that means that CFML is not a single-vendor or proprietary.

Great, so ColdFusion simplifies Java development, and ColdFusion applications are no less Java than applications written in low-level Java directly. But simplicity and abstractions require sacrificing power, right? Wrong! ColdFusion applications can (and should) leverage Java; Java APIs, Java classes, JavaBeans, JSP tags, you name it, ColdFusion can leverage it because ColdFusion itself is Java. It's that simple.

So, ColdFusion or Java? The answer should be yes, ColdFusion is Java, and Java development can benefit from ColdFusion. This is not an either/or proposition, it's a "you can have it all so why the heck would you want to do it any other way?" proposition.

... ASP
Microsoft ASP has been an important player in Web application scripting since, well, since a year or so after the introduction of ColdFusion. From an application development process viewpoint, ColdFusion and ASP are not that different. Both are script based, both are very page centric, both embed server-side processing and client-side presentation code in source files, and both are implemented as HTTP server add-ons (ASP via ISAPI, ColdFusion via ISAPI and more). ASP and ColdFusion can coexist, and indeed, as most ColdFusion deployments are on Windows, the likelihood of ASP and ColdFusion coexisting (even if ASP is not used) is very high.

The ASP versus ColdFusion discussion used to come up regularly. But not anymore. Now that Microsoft has essentially abandoned any future development on classic ASP, replacing it with ASP.NET, few organizations are embarking on brand new ASP deployments. But having said that, if you do need to defend ColdFusion against ASP, here's what you need to know.

For starters, ASP capabilities are a subset of those of ColdFusion. Or put differently, ColdFusion can do anything that ASP can do, and a whole lot more too. The reverse is not true. Sure, ASP can be extended (using COM objects) to do just about anything that ColdFusion can do, but that's just it, you need to extend ASP - it's your responsibility to do so. Simple things that ColdFusion developers take for granted, like being able to generate an e-mail message, or process an uploaded file, or generate a business chart, none of those are native ASP functionality.

And this is not mere boasting, this is important, because it's the way to head off the "but ASP is free" argument. Sure, ASP is free for starters, but buy all the add-on bits you need to make it functionally equivalent to ColdFusion (even ColdFusion Standard, and even ColdFusion 3 or 4!) and you'll end up paying far more than ColdFusion costs. Sure, ASP is cheaper initially, but you get what you pay for. Or rather, you don't get what you don't pay for. And when you do pay for it, you'll end up paying a whole lot more.

And that's just looking at initial costs. ASP development is also far more time consuming than ColdFusion development. Even if you're comfortable in the languages used, you'll still have to write lots more code to get the job done. Even the execution of simple SQL statements is far more complex in ASP - one tag versus lots of lines of ugly code. More code = longer development time = costs more. Plus, more code = more complex ongoing maintenance = costs even more.

At the risk of sounding like an MBA, when you look at the total cost of ownership, ASP is not the cheaper option at all. Oh, and on top of all that, ASP is proprietary, a single vendor solution, and you're married to Windows boxes (no Linux, no Unix, no portability).

Maybe this is why, as already stated, most ColdFusion servers run on Windows, Windows boxes that likely already have ASP installed. Why? Because hundreds of thousands of developers have figured out that free can be far too expensive.

... ASP.NET
Comparing ASP.NET to ColdFusion is difficult. Actually, it's not just difficult, it's simply incorrect, and not an apples-to-apples comparison. In order to defend ColdFusion against a "we are moving to ASP.NET" claim, you (and whoever is involved in the decision making) need to take a big step back. Why? Simple, because ASP.NET is part of Microsoft's .NET solution, and ASP.NET apps take advantage of the .NET Framework and infrastructure, just like ColdFusion apps take advantage of J2EE. In other words, deciding between ColdFusion and ASP.NET (and indeed, defending ColdFusion against ASP.NET) first requires a .NET versus J2EE discussion.

J2EE and .NET are remarkably alike, both in terms of objectives and the range of their various components and systems. Of course, applications and application development with the two platforms are not alike at all; everything from tools to languages to methodologies are different. At their respective cores, both .NET and J2EE provide the building blocks and technologies needed to build applications. Security abstractions, database support, back-end integration, system level services, transactions and messaging, run-time services, and more are all provided by the platforms themselves. Both J2EE and .NET provide "safe" environments in which applications run (the JVM and CLR respectively); both J2EE and .NET support the use of different languages within these environments (although this potential has been realized to a greater degree in .NET); both have a scripting solution designed for Web applications (JSP or ColdFusion for J2EE, ASP.NET for .NET); and both are incredibly powerful and capable.

Many organizations are going through a J2EE or .NET discussion, usually independent of any discussion about ColdFusion. And there are pros and cons to both options. J2EE wins when vendor independence, openness, and portability are a priority. .NET wins when it comes to tools, a better client experience, or simply a commitment to the Microsoft way (there is more to it than that, but that's an entire column unto itself).

However, as many are discovering, J2EE versus .NET is not always an either/or proposition. In fact, lots of organizations are discovering that they need both, and that the future is decidedly heterogeneous. This is especially true for larger organizations where there's room for both, and interoperability (primarily via SOAP) makes this a workable option.

If an organization has made the strategic decision to bet its future solely on Microsoft and .NET, then they probably should use ASP.NET. Sure, ColdFusion can coexist and interoperate with the .NET world, but ASP.NET will likely be the preferred option. For organizations going the J2EE route, well, I've covered that one already. But for most organizations, ColdFusion remains compelling, leveraging the worlds of J2EE natively and .NET via SOAP. In fact, some organizations have discovered that ColdFusion is the simplest way to create client applications that talk to both J2EE and .NET back ends, if that is needed.

So, ColdFusion or ASP.NET? That depends on what your IT future looks like. And unless the future is Microsoft and Windows only, ColdFusion remains an important cog in the IT engine.

... PHP
PHP is not one that comes up often; there is not a significant overlap between PHP developers and ColdFusion developers. But, in the interests of presenting the complete story, here is what you need to know.

PHP is also script based. Pages contain code that is processed by the PHP engine. The PHP engine itself is open source, and the PHP language uses a syntax borrowed from C, Java, and Perl (the latter is important, as PHP is particularly popular with former Perl developers). PHP runs on all sorts of systems, and uses functions and APIs for all sorts of processing.

PHP's stated goal (as per the official PHP FAQ) is to "allow Web developers to write dynamically generated pages quickly." Ironically, developers with both CFML and PHP experience will tell you that while PHP development may be quicker than using C or Java, it does not come close to that of ColdFusion and CFML.

There is no refuting PHP's power; PHP developers have an impressive and rich set of functions and language extensions available, and that is definitely part of PHP's appeal. But this power comes at a cost.It takes a lot more PHP code to do what simple CFML tags do, and as explained before, more code = greater cost. If you truly need that power, then PHP may indeed be an option worth considering (although CFML+Java would likely give you the same power and more). But if what you really need is to "write dynamically generated pages quickly," then PHP leaves much to be desired.

One of the most compelling arguments for PHP is its cost there is none. But, as explained earlier, the cost of software is only one part of the total cost of application development, arguably the least significant cost in the long run. It is for this reason that despite being incredibly popular with developers and consulting shops, corporate users have been slow to adopt PHP as a development platform (which in turn is why the PHP versus ColdFusion discussion comes up so infrequently).

The bottom line is if you really need the power and flexibility of PHP and can justify the longer development cycles and more code to manage and maintain it, then PHP should seriously be considered. But if time to completion and total cost of ownership are an issue, then ColdFusion wins hands down.

Conclusion
And there you have it, the elevator-pitch arguments needed to defend ColdFusion, if the need so arises. Of course, the ultimate defense is results, and delivering results is something ColdFusion developers have proven themselves to be incredibly good at.