Rating: 
Summary: This is the best CF reference ever! I passed the test too!
Review: I can't recommend this book more highly. I have only been Web Developing for 8 months after falling into the job with a fluke departmental transfer. I trained on the job with the Allaire CD that came with the CF Application Server and read manuals. This is the first CF book that I didn't have to strain to understand. It made difficult concepts simple to a newbie like myself. I ended up not only passing the exam, but also made an 82% that now brings me to Advanced ColdFusion Certified status!! It was a change they made last month where scores of 80% and above get extra recognition. This book not only was the reason I scored so high, but also was instrumental in pointing out fixes to a host of CF problems I was having in my daily coding. There were practice questions at the end of these chapters that were actually on the test with slight wording changes. I will say that there were about 3 questions on the test that were not covered at all in the book. So I would suggest supplemental study if you want to make a 90% or something.Now it is time for me to go negotiate that raise! Mike Arms Advanced ColdFusion Professional (P.S. I like the sound of that. You will too after your own name. So get this book, read once with a high lighter, read it again, then outline the chapters you are hazy on.)
Rating:
Summary: 18 minutes flat
Review: I hadn't written any ColdFusion in 4 months, read the book in the 3 days prior to the test and finished it in 18 minutes. I passed of course.
I don't know what else really needs to be said, but I'll try anyway.
The book starts off slow, and anyone familiar with ColdFusion can probably skip part one entirely where the basics of variabls, loops, databases and logic flow is covered. The sections on data structures [lists, arrays and structures] is especially good and actually taught me several things. As did the secfions on Advanced ColdFusion [ CF Script, dynamic functions, stored procedures, transactions, debugging and error handling] and Extending ColdFusion [custom tags, CFX, COM, CORBA, WDDX]. The handling of CF script is especially important for the test, where they focus a larger number of questions on it than I'd expected considering how little I have ever seen it used.
There is also a nice section on services provided by the ColdFusion server itself [scheduling, LDAP, searches, etc] which may be of help to developers that don't normally handle administrative tasks on their servers.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: I have been programming in Coldfusion for over a year now but with this book, I've discovered more techniques in creating an efficient code. Although I haven't taken the exam yet, I'm pretty sure that what I've learned would be a great help in passing it.
Rating:
Summary: This book is all you will need to pass!!
Review: I have been working exclusively in cold fusion for a bit over 1yr. Just when I thought I knew everything there is to know to pass the CF certification test, reading this book was a humbling experience -- I learned something new in every chapter. This book was a quick read, it took about 20 hrs +/- to complete all 38 chapters. By the time I was done with this book, it only took me 25 minutes to complete the 60 questions (90min) exam. Best of all, quite a few of the questions on the exam came straight from the book. The only flaw, if that's what it is, is that it was written with CF 4.5 in mind -- Did not cover things such as CFFLUSH, CFGRAPH, and other new tags. Even if you think you know all there is to know, you can still learn a few things from this book. It's a MUST GET!!
Rating:
Summary: This book is all you will need to pass!!
Review: I have been working exclusively in cold fusion for a bit over 1yr. Just when I thought I knew everything there is to know to pass the CF certification test, reading this book was a humbling experience -- I learned something new in every chapter. This book was a quick read, it took about 20 hrs +/- to complete all 38 chapters. By the time I was done with this book, it only took me 25 minutes to complete the 60 questions (90min) exam. Best of all, quite a few of the questions on the exam came straight from the book. The only flaw, if that's what it is, is that it was written with CF 4.5 in mind -- Did not cover things such as CFFLUSH, CFGRAPH, and other new tags. Even if you think you know all there is to know, you can still learn a few things from this book. It's a MUST GET!!
Rating:
Summary: Great Last Minute Boost for Exam
Review: I just completed and passed the ColdFusion certification exam on June 23rd. I have been a CF developer for about 1.5 years. I have a pretty strong knowledge of the basics, but realized CF is very broad and that I definitely needed some sort of extra prep for the exam. So, I bought this book several weeks ago. However, I am an unrepentant procrastinator -- I waited till the day before the exam to start studying Ben's book. No matter. The text is so well written, that I could easily skim the material I was familiar with and focus on sections were my skills were weak. The end-of-chapter practice quizzes are challenging and are an excellent gauge of how you will perform on the real certification exam. My scores ended up being exactly the same -- 84!! It certainly helped me pass the exam and I'm sure it will remain handy as a quick reference guide. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Way Too Basic
Review: It scares me that developers who are now "certified" needed to review more than 10% of the information in this book. It also scares me that 2 out of 3 developers fail the test the first time they take it, especially if this book covers the same subject matter. Secondly, did anyone have any trouble identifying the chapters written by one Emily Kim? If so, here's a hint: Every time she offers an example of how to set a variable, or how to process a form (really high level stuff), she uses her own name in the example. Emily appears to want all CF developers to know her name. It must appear more than a hundred times. I'll bet any amount of money she's got her own name on her license plate.
Rating:
Summary: Everything you need to Pass on the first try.
Review: No question about it. If you want to pass the Cold Fusion Certification exam in the first try, you NEED this book. The exam has questions that most CF developers don't know (and really don't need to) and Ben's book will prep you for those questions. A very easy to understand and follow study guide.
Rating:
Summary: Good Tidbits of Info
Review: Once again the pen of Ben comes produces a gem! This book is the perfect capstone to any introductory level book for developers that not only want to study for the Cold Fusion certification exam but take their knowledge of Cold Fusion to the next level. This 378 page tomb has more higher level tips and tricks than his equally well written 1000 page+ giants. Several tips and tricks have saved me hours of time and helped me produce better code. Now all that I need to do is pass the exam and I am sure that this book will indeed do the trick. Keep em' coming Ben...
Rating: 
Summary: $45 for ten useful chapters and 30 rudimentary ones
Review: The book is handy in the sense that we don't have a lot of other avenues to prepare for the test. $45 is cheaper than the $150 taking the actual test would require. On the other hand, the price is exceptionally high given that 75% of the content is about as basic as it could possibly be. If nothing else, reading the book has completely devalued the certification itself. Remember when the MCSE meant something? Now you can practically get one at the drive-through. I think Allaire needs to provide various levels of certification, with this one ranking as the most basic. There are developers out there who can code circles around most of the people able to certify via this exam, but there's no way of distinguishing who they are. About all that can be extrapolated from the current test is that they are PROBABLY not complete idiots. SECONDLY, calling the writing in this book concise is overstating the fact. Grammatically correct? Possibly. But as far as Forta books go, I have to say that this is the worst as far as writing goes. Forta is an invaluable resource for this community, but I'm almost embarrassed to have this book on my desk.
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