Rating: 
Summary: Very well-written
Review: The book was so awesome. The process of learning cold fusion was so quick and easy. I only not learned how to write CFML but also knew how to write stored procedures in a SQL Server. This is a heck of a deal book!
Rating: 
Summary: Ben Forta is my new hero!
Review: As a self-taught, non-programming, and only semi-power userattempting to build interactivity into Web pages within the stategovernment sector, I have found my comprehension of CGI/PERLprogramming or high end Web application suites to be inadequate to the task of developing dynamic Web pages. Watching closely for any signs of light at the end of the tunnel, I soon began to see flickers about something called ColdFusion. On investigation, it sounded to good to be true: a tool that could generate the code needed to parse and handle data coming from HTML forms submissions, something I'd never been able to achieve. Better yet, its ODBC connections promised easy connections to Access or Oracle databases.Since our internal hosting agency already hosted the ColdFusion server for its state agency clients, the initial buy-in required only the purchase of the ColdFusion 4.0 Studio package. I've got a couple of smart managers who were willing to risk the investment. Next, I never buy any new software without going to a major bookstore and finding the best 3rd party help book available. So I found the ColdFusion 4.0 Web Application Construction Kit by a guy who I thought must have greatly impressed the Allaire Corporation; I say this because his book looks just like the ColdFusion 4.0 user guide, only heavier. It was one of the best investments in a book we ever made, judging by the accelerated learning curve it provided, speaking from my own experience. I find no need to nitpick about typos or other minor imperfections. Nothing is perfect, but THIS IS without a doubt THE BEST single reference work on ColdFusion you will find on the market. I will not be the first person to refer to it as his ColdFusion desktop "bible." For those who are disciplined and patient enough to use the accompanying CD and tutorial files, you will find a gold mine of functionality. You will also enjoy a strong sense of satisfaction from watching your skills and confidence build, literally chapter by chapter. I am now one of the ColdFusion-converted, and proud of it. I'll close this testimonial by proudly admitting that my first ColdFusion application paid for itself in the first week of operation, in saved staff costs. It has only become easier since then, such that "rapid development" has come to mean "overnight" in many cases. We are sold on ColdFusion, and sold on Ben Forta and anything that he writes.
Rating:
Summary: Good Solid Information on Coldfusion
Review: I thought that this was a good book, not great, but solid. Anyone, beginner or expert web programmer can learn something from this book. My suggestion if you have the money is take Allaire's Coldfusion class. If you don't have the money, then invest in this book. My only criticism of this book is that some of the examples do not work, or at least I could not get them working. One example builds on another, and it could get a little frustrating if you did not totally understand the former example. The CD provided is very good and is the same CD that the ColdFusion class provides. Overall, if you want to learn ColdFusion in under 30 days (the amount of time the CD will work) this is the next best thing to taking the class.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book - Could be better if more examples are provided.
Review: This is the only book I had in order to get up to speed with Cold Fusion. The book is a great introduction to the basics. I have to usually go to the Cold Fusion website to get more details on advanced topics. In some cases the book could have been improved with more examples.
Rating:
Summary: This is "the" Cold Fusion book
Review: I have to be honest and say that I struggled with the documentation books that Allaire ships with Cold Fusion studio. Sure I could have figured it out, but I was trying to learn CF on the fly. I had so many other things going on that I couldn't concentrate on making a go of it. That was until I ordered and read this book. Want to go 0 to 60 in Cold Fusion? Buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Best Instructional Book I've Seen
Review: This is by far the best instructional book I've seen and help me learn basic ColdFusion in a matter of days. I now keep it handy both at home and work and consider it the bible of the language. Forta assumes you know nothing about the language or SQL (correctly in my case) and walks you through step by step and builds on a foundation of the basics. I wish he'd write some books on Microsoft's Visual Series....
Rating:
Summary: Almost all you need to know about Cold Fusion
Review: Besides the plethora of typos scattered throughout, this book covers a basic understanding of ColdFusion, but doesn't spend NEARLY enough time on client & session variables. The section on creating your own CF tags is also very sketchy. These two concepts are crucial to developing complex data-driven websites in ColdFusion--yet they aren't covered very well in this book. If you're just starting out with ColdFusion, SQL or databases, this is a great book. If you're looking for more advanced topics, you might want to pick up another book to accompany this one.
Rating:
Summary: All you need to know about ColdFusion
Review: Is one of the Best Book I have come across to learn new languages. Wish SQL was covered in more detail..
Rating:
Summary: A++ on general CF & SQL stuff, D on client&session vars
Review: This is an excellent book for newbies on Coldfusion. However, I must say the client & session variables section is not explained as well as other parts of the book.This topic is THE core of developing sites, so if you are serious about Coldfusion, you'll need to get this one and another book...
Rating:
Summary: Because of this book, Allaire just got another customer!
Review: I received this book at 11 a.m. yesterday, and I had my database search up and running at 9 p.m. last night. I am by no means any kind of programmer except for the semester of BASIC I took in high school (15 years ago). I am, however, a technical writer, instructor, and consultant, who wishes she had majored in Computer Science instead of Journalism. This book is BY FAR the best instructional book I have read about setting up a database and working with the data over the internet. It doesn't assume that the reader knows much of anything about SQL, Access, and, of course, ColdFusion. I highly recommend this book to novices who are trying to learn ColdFusion and develop databases on the Internet...after all, if I can do it, anyone can!
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