With the arrival of Yahoo! and its Yahoo! Go Mobile 2.0 product, another A-list brand has entered the market. Yahoo!'s presence, like Apple's, expands the number of ODP (On-Device Portal) choices available to consumers, offering data services that are embedded directly onto the devices that people carry with them every day, similar to the desktop applications that people have downloaded on their PCs.

I have been developing Web applications for years, and have been using random JavaScript snippets gleaned from the Web to test a user's browser and configured properties. Since this script would be run client side, it required the user to have JavaScript enabled and didn't always work in all browsers.

Macromedia has been offering ColdFusion Developer Certification since version 4.5 was released. Though it's arguable that there is no such thing as an exam that accurately measures a person's ability to develop applications, some employers do value such things and there's no denying that it certainly doesn't hurt to have the certification listed on one's resume. To help developers practice and prepare for the certification exam, CentraSoft offers their CFMX Exam Buster software, recently updated for the ColdFusion MX 7 Certification exam.

Many paths lead developers to ColdFusion. In the past ColdFusion was often viewed as an entry-level language enabling designers and other nonprogrammers to build dynamic sites. Since the release of CFMX it has become more recognized among developers familiar with languages such as Java and PHP.

After an entire year spent meeting with and speaking to thousands of ColdFusion developers, the CF team at Macromedia are unleashing this month the feature-rich new release, CFMX 7.

Over the past couple of months I've been introducing you to some of the fantastic possibilities Macromedia Flex offers for building Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) with ColdFusion ('Flex Your ColdFusion Muscles,' CFDJ Vol. 6, issue 12 and 'Data Presentation with Macromedia Flex,' CFDJ Vol. 7, issue 1), and I hope you've been motivated to begin experimenting with Flex yourself.

Plum stands for Practical Lightweight Universal Methodology, and consists of a comprehensive development environment that includes a Windows-based IDE; code generator; robust application framework; development methodology; simple integrated Content Management System (CMS); and stored procedure, unit test, and component generators. Plum accomplishes so much for a ColdFusion developer that it can literally be overwhelming trying to grok it all at first glance.

CommonSpot Content Server, developed by PaperThin, Inc., has been simplifying Web site development and authoring since its introduction in 1998. On April 8, 2004, the newest generation, version 4.0, was released. Web Content Management products usually seek to empower nontechnical users by allowing them to modify Web content from their desktops;

Question: Who needs version control? Answer: Every developer. Most people think of versioning control software as something that should be left to big companies and large teams. However, version control is a good idea for everyone.

There comes a time in the life of almost every developer when he or she needs to host a Web site. Unfortunately, not all of us can have a T1 running to our basement with a dual-processor Pentium 4 running our site. No, we developers - and businesses - must look elsewhere for help. Unless you have a lot of money, that typically means you'll be part of a shared hosting environment.

In last month's issue of CFDJ, Simon Horwith reported on MAX 2003 and all it had to offer. Here, we follow CFDJ editor-in-chief Rob Diamond as he checked out the floor of MAX 2003.

Mae West, the indomitable actress/comedienne of the 1930s and '40s, left us with some unforgettable quotes. She gave us such lines as, 'When caught between two evils, I generally pick the one I've never tried before,' and 'Too much of a good thing...can be wonderful.' She also offered the ironic observation that 'Virtue is its own reward.'

In the past, I've written in broad terms about FLiP, the Fusebox Lifecycle Process, a methodology for delivering successful software projects that work (despite its name) with any - or no - software framework. In this article, I want to 'drill down' on one aspect of FLiP and see how it is used in practice.

Ah, television! Where else can you see so much action? Murders are routinely committed and solved, dastardly plots are hatched and foiled, and characters learn some deep life-truth - all within a single hour.

Think of the problems you encountered during your last project, then imagine the team spread across different floors or buildings, or even continents! The problems and pitfalls are greatly magnified to a point where development is severely hindered.

This article is a continuation of the how-to guide (Part 1 ran last month) for setting up a ColdFusion 5 server and a Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 to execute a DTS package through the ColdFusion server.

In the August edition of CFDJ, Ben Edwards and I presented a first look at Mach-II, a new, object-oriented framework for building software applications. In this issue, I offer a tutorial (with commentary) on building a simple Mach-II application.

Have you ever wanted to chat simultaneously with two or more of your friends, but each of you uses a different chatting medium? Have you ever participated in a teleconference where you had the pleasure of waiting for the administrator/moderator's e-mail of presentation modifications? Perhaps you were that moderator, frustrated that the company's chosen third-party collaboration platform had once again crashed, leaving your presentation dead in the water.

The latest version of Fusebox - version 4 - has been taken out of beta and placed into general availability. Over the last seven years, Fusebox has grown from a collection of best practices and snippets of code into a full-featured, robust framework on which developers can build true Web applications.

In this article, I'll show you how to set up a ColdFusion 5 server and a Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 that will execute a DTS package through the ColdFusion server. The main objective is to create a DTS package that will result in file output that will be delivered to a network UNC path or mapped drive using a set of stored procedures executed by ColdFusion.

The world of ColdFusion application servers is quite interesting at the moment. Macromedia's recent update to CFMX 6.1 promises to add a lot of stability and speed to the product. BlueDragon, New Atlanta's alternate CFML runtime engine continues to gain momentum. Yet despite these two great products, much of the development out there is still based on ColdFusion 5 (or earlier).

ColdFusion developers are faced with lots of choices when trying to find a ColdFusion hosting service that meets their needs. It can be tough locating a host that offers the right combination of features, service, and support at a price that's right for a variety of developers. In the March 2003 issue (CFDJ, Vol. 5, issue 3), we conducted our first interview with a ColdFusion hosting provider. This month, we interview Edgewebhosting.net CEO Vlad A. Friedman for the skinny on his company's ColdFusion hosting services.

With the release of the MX version, ColdFusion has moved from its strict procedural programming background toward object-oriented design and programming. This move has evoked both hope and fear in developers, some welcoming the decidedly new concepts of object orientation (OO) and some dreading that they will lose the language they love.

After evaluating and deploying a number of content management systems over the past five years, I guess I've become a bit jaded. Frankly, they all just started to look the same. To be sure, each one has core strengths and weaknesses. Each is usually geared to fit a certain vertical market (education, for example), and many have similar levels of functionality. All of them have significant usability issues - particularly when authoring content that requires HTML tables.

About two years ago, I decided that it would be 'fun' to learn to cook. I figured I would be a quick learner; after all, I liked to eat (passion for the subject), I had been a skilled cabinetmaker (possessed manual skills), and I enjoyed watching 'Iron Chef' on the Food Network (had an available learning resource). Compared to cabinetmaking and software development, how hard could it be?

Dreamweaver has been around for years. We've all seen it in some version or other, but it has finally come into its own in the most recent version, MX.

In several recent CFDJ articles, I've described software architecture as akin to model building. In both designing software models and building scale models, it's important that the model be internally consistent as well as sufficiently rich to encompass the desired behaviors of the real-world system.

Like its predecessors, Macromedia's most recent installment of the Devnet Resource Kit (DRK 3) is stocked with many excellent utilities for Flash developers. Unlike previous releases, DRK 3 aims to make the lives of ColdFusion developers easier by including many applications and development tools for use in CFMX applications. One of these is an Application Programming Interface I developed called the Data File Access API (DFA API).

It seems that lately, you can't pick up a book or magazine without hearing about design patterns. If you're new to the idea of design patterns, they're simply time-tested solutions to common problems. Design patterns began with the work of Christopher Alexander, a PhD in architecture (as in buildings).

I recently reviewed Macromedia's new 'Developing Rich Internet Applications' (CFDJ, Vol. 5, issue 2) course to make developers interested in adding Flash to their arsenal aware of this terrific new offering from Macromedia Training.

Every developer will at some point have to integrate his or her work with a legacy system running on a mainframe platform. These projects tend to be both painful and challenging due in no small part to the limited information- sharing capabilities of outdated, albeit stable, systems. XML and Web services didn't exist when some of these applications were written. The concept of browser-based applications was years away. Green-screen applications were the norm and dinosaurs ruled the earth (just kidding about that last part).

When SYS-CON Media's sister company, SYS-CON Events, began preparing last year for this spring's 'Web Services Edge' Conference & Expo, one consideration was paramount: every effort in the nine-month preparation cycle should be geared toward making it indisputably the world's largest independent Java, .NET, XML, and Web services event.

In the last year, I've seen a great number of developers make the commitment to learn Fusebox - and for good reason: the Fusebox framework and the Fusebox Lifecycle Process (FLiP) give developers both a framework and a methodology that work well in creating Web applications. Even so, there are still many pitfalls that can trip up Fusebox programmers. If you're learning Fusebox, here are some tips on avoiding common mistakes:

Site Executive 3.0 promises ease of use, standardization, rapid site implementation, rights- and role-based security, versioning, workflow, and easy custom module implementation. It largely succeeds in these areas. Load balancing and failover are also supported. This version does not have true localization support, but it's planned for future versions. Double-byte characters are supported.

Over the last nine years, I must have coded at least 100 ColdFusion applications. Many of these contained similar features - calendaring, e-commerce, content management, and dynamic survey forms. Several were 'one-offs' - based on work done for previous customers with some modified behavior and rebranding. Others were architected to work in either a dedicated or 'Application Service Provider' mode. All of them required an administrative interface with an accompanying security model that required a significant amount of time to reimplement.

Have you ever built that 'killer' ColdFusion app only to have server problems bring your application to a grinding halt? Fortunately, armed with a little knowledge and a few batch files, most issues in ColdFusion 4.0-5.0 are easily resolvable in less than 60 seconds.

Do you shave your entire body?' It's kind of an odd question (and might get you a funny look or a slap in the face depending on who you ask!), but if you were to ask a world-class swimmer, the answer would almost certainly be 'yes.' If you're serious about competition, you need to be willing to take the necessary steps to give you an edge. In these days of stiff job competition, getting certified in technical skill sets may make the difference between landing your dream job or continuing to dream.

In last month's article, I introduced you to a company with a project in jeopardy. When I was called in to analyze the situation, I discovered that the project was a major revision; the first version had been very successful, but now the company was running into problems. I promised the CIO that I would make a presentation to his key development team. In preparation for that meeting, I found myself at a local store, Frank's House of Models…

'Actually, it's no one's fault.' This was the conclusion I had come to after a week of working on a nightmare project I had been called in on. The CIO had asked me for a briefing on what I had found so far. 'But how could this be such a mess?' the CIO wanted to know. 'Granted, the project involves a sizable change of an existing piece of software, but that was written only three years ago. I've got 1,500 customers waiting to use this new version. It's very high profile - and we can't get it out the door. Costs are crazy. I don't even want to think how far above budget we are. We've missed so many ship dates that the developers won't even guess when it might really be ready.'

If you've ever generated any type of custom report using ColdFusion, odds are you've fielded this question at some point in time. And while the task may sound rather difficult, it can be made relatively simple with a particular open-source third-party tool.