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Summary: Ben has done it again
Review: I am a intermediate cf programmer, and I have taken the fast track class from allaire. I think this book is great! I needed some real answers and examples of cf and shopping cart type stuff. My only request is to do a spell check before printing and to PROVIDE MORE EXAMPLES. I hate it when there is just one example, and I'm not sure how it will work with my code, because I don't have enough information. Other than that, I am still reading/using this book, and I recommend it to new-intermediate cf programmers.
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Summary: Old hand or newbe, there's nothing better!
Review: I've used Ben's books for three years in creating and maintaining web sites. There is NOTHING better in the CF world than these books. Whether you're a killer CF programmer or just learning, you'll find tips, hints and procedures that will make your life easier and your site more robust and functional. Ben's books are a 'must have' for anyone doing Coldfusion!
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Summary: If you want to, wait for Cold Fusion 5, 4th Edition
Review: If you are new to Cold Fusion, then this is the book for you. It is one of the most enjoyable technical books that I have read. However, if you if you have the 2nd Edition, the information in the 3rd Edition is only 5-10% new. Case and point, there are several screen grabs from Cold Fusion 3.0 and chapters that are verbatim the same as the 2nd Edition. In my opinion, the publisher and authors were not being honest to their loyal following. Please make adjustments for Cold Fusion 5, 4th Edition. Congrats, being number #36 in sales rank. Integrity is everything boys and girls!
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Summary: Adopted by FSU Interactive Communication Lab
Review: ColdFusion 4.0 is the adopted IDE for the Interactive Communication Lab at Florida State University. This book is the bible for our master's degree students.
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Summary: The definitive guide and introduction to Cold Fusion
Review: Ben Forta's book is a rarity in computer publishing. It retains its value, and its utility, even after you have finished reading it. The book explains the fundamentals of Cold Fusion, and SQL, and allows beginers to quickly learn how to use Cold Fusion to develop web applications. Concise, easy to read and no bulls*it. Its really all you want in a book.
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Summary: Still the best CF book out there
Review: I have bought every edition of this book to date, and have yet to be disappointed. Ben's writing is clear, concise, informative, and highly readable. Some reviewers here have criticized this latest edition by saying that it is too similar to the previous edition. While there is some truth to this, I think they are missing the bigger picture here. The reason much of this ColdFusion 4 book is so similar to the previous edition (which covered ColdFusion 3.1) is that not much changed in the basic product between those two versions. The things that did change (e.g. stored procedure support, structures, the debugger) are all covered in this revised book, as they should be. In my opinion, most of the new features in ColdFusion 4 are advanced features (e.g. security, scalability, scripting, WDDX, structured error handling), and these are all covered in Ben's exceptional new advanced ColdFusion book. If you are a highly experienced ColdFusion 3.x programmer, then this book might not be what you are looking for (but make sure you get the new Advanced book). But if you are new to ColdFusion, or are not an expert ColdFusion 3.x programmer, then you can do no better than this. Ben is still the best ColdFusion teacher and guide out there.
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Summary: The BEST ColdFusion guide and tutorial
Review: Ben's book is STILL the best way to learn ColdFusion
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Summary: Invaluable reference for those new to ColdFusion development
Review: The problem with the incorrect Chapter 4 aside, this book has been an invaluable reference for me as I dive headlong into the world of ColdFusion development. The book provides just the right mix of hands-on instruction and technical reference, and it neither patronizes, nor does it talk over your head. I appreciate the fact that the book was updated to coincide with the new 4.0 release, as it would have been more frustrating to deal with a similar but still outdated reference book while waiting for something newer to be released. Perhaps it's too similar to the previous edition, but IMO if you're new to ColdFusion and you're developing with the 4.0 release, this is the definitive book to own.
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Summary: I think this one was a bit premature
Review: I have bought all three editions of Ben's book and have to say that I am somewhat disappointed in the latest edition. Besides the fact that most of the book is just repurposed content from the other two editions, several problms exist with the book. To start with, the chapter on administrating ColdFusion contains the chapter from the previous version of the book. Althought the publisher has made an adendum available over the web, this is still a disappointment. Also, several subjects such as custom tags and the CFFTP tag which were covered in the last edition are not in this addition. I know they are in the new "Advanced Book", but I have seen that book and don't see any real enhancements in the content. I sincerely hope this isn't a ploy to get people to have to buy the second book. The rush to get this book to market to coincide with the release of CF4 was part of what led to some of the mistakes and problems I already have found. I know that book writing must be a competitive industry, but it is a shame that an editor and writers who have published quality material in the past have slipped down a notch with this latest edition.
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Summary: Too Much Like the Last Edition
Review: This book is an excellent resource, without question. However, this edition contains much of the same information as the last one. There are many improvements in Cold Fusion 4.0 that, unfortunately, are not covered in this book. I hope the Advanced book makes up for this edition's shortcomings.
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