PHP verses Cold Fusion 3

[techhead100k]

Hi,

I am learning My SQL, but I have not made a decision on whether to use CF or PHP becaue I do not have enough comparative information to know how to make the choice.

Any views and opinions are greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Charlie

 

[quebasic2]

I don't know anything about cold fusion, but I do know this, most website have php support, not very many support cold fusion.

 

[4x4uk]

I agree with quebasic2 I also don't know a great deal about cold fusion but will say that PHP is fairly easy to learn and will do just about anything you might want.

Regards
Ian Infinity exists! - I just haven't worked out a way to get there yet.

http://www.ne4x4.org.uk/

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http://www.ne4x4.org.uk/Ian/

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http://www.ne4x4.fsnet.co.uk/beck/

 

[ingernet]

I've worked with both PHP and ColdFusion for years, and actually like both of them.

There are at least five things to think about when deciding which technology you should go with:

Your monetary budget
Your development time budget
Your support needs
Your server specs
Your application needs

ColdFusion costs money up front and with every upgrade. PHP is free.

You can get a site up and running in ColdFusion in 10 seconds flat. PHP generally takes more time because its syntax is pickier and requires more of a programming bent.

This site notwithstanding, ColdFusion user community support is generally a lot more limited than PHP user support. I suspect that it's because people figure that if you can afford to install ColdFusion, you should be willing to pay for support.

ColdFusion runs as its own engine, on top of the web server application. PHP can run as a CGI, or as an Apache module. This definitely has an effect on website performance, though your mileage may vary, depending on what kinds of things you're doing on your website.

PHP has over 700 built-in functions. This is amazingly beautiful and terrifying at the same time, if you're a brand new PHP user. PHP has extremely cool file-handling functions and can run circles around ColdFusion in just about every arena of functionality - database connectivity, interface logic, you name it.

And it's open source, so you see new, cool, FREE stuff getting added on all the time. A friend of mine wrote Ming, a Shockwave Flash generator plug-in for PHP, and now it comes with the standard install. How totally rad is that?

The real challenge is accepting that there is basically nothing you can't do with PHP, and also accepting that finding the function(s) that does/do it may take some time.

I hated ColdFusion at first because it seemed very...clunky. As Duplo blocks are to Legos, ColdFusion is to PHP. You know, like with Duplo blocks, you can build a house, but it still looks like a big block, whereas with Legos, you can build a house, with turrets, witches' caps, a palm tree in the front yard, and even a little clawfoot tub in the Lego Bathroom, if you want. I have a friend that used to call ColdFusion the "Fischer-Price My First Programming Language."

But I still have a soft spot in my heart for ColdFusion, because I have been able to get Duplo-style sites up in no time with it, and I just KNOW that creating the same functionality in PHP would take a lot more work.

So: lazy? rich? not afraid to limit your functionality? go ColdFusion.
broke? creative? PHP, baby, PHP all the way.

 

[DaRNCaT]

that is the best summation I've ever seen, cheers!!! Sometimes, when my code just won't behave, I take it outside and make it listen to britney spears music, and when it comes back it's really well behaved. I wonder if it's suffering from post tramatic stress syndrome now..

 

[cian]

From what I know of the two CF is easier to learn initially, it is simple to do basic things but extremely difficult to do avnanced things.
With PHP it is a web developers language, it works best doing cool things on web sites!
And as mentioned the support for PHP is 100 times better!
As well there's millions of free applications available in PHP to help you learn, not so much the case with CF.

É ::

http://www.endamcg.com

 

[cian]

From what I know of the two CF is easier to learn initially, it is simple to do basic things but extremely difficult to do advanced things.
With PHP it is a web developers language, it works best doing cool things on web sites!
And as mentioned the support for PHP is 100 times better!
As well there's millions of free applications available in PHP to help you learn, not so much the case with CF.

É ::

http://www.endamcg.com

 

[WebWired]

As a webhost I have to agree with quebasic2 ... cold fusion is expensive for a webhost, so most don't offer it, and if they do, it will most likely cost you extra... PHP is free...

 

[neofactor]

It is disappointing to do a search on php vs coldfusion…

Many people read this as truth, and fail to see that coldfusion has evolved greatly in the past few years. Most “reviews” compare older versions of coldfusion stating it cannot do User Defined functions, or XML integration, or advanced functions.

Wake up everyone… Coldfusion is based on a Java engine. It compiles and runs fast… it is easy to use in true coldfusion markup... or when integrating Java class calls. Functions and webservices have made Enterprise and Pro integration much more robust.

I certainly do not mean to diminish the shine of PHP. It rocks too. Sure it is limited in good error trapping like Coldfusion... but it will improve as all tools do.

The argument of PHP free Coldfusion Not…. I have hosted Coldfusion Clients for as little as $10 / month on fast systems.

No matter what tool I use… and I use a lot of them (JSP, CF, PHP, PERL, ASP, and ASP.NET” I find a good use for all of them.

If you have a budget and an infrastructure to support… there is nothing wrong with using non-free tools. Coldfusion just release a major version upgrade for free!! As for adding to the code… I share User defined functions between all my code.

In a nutshell… there is nothing wrong with anything you pick! They all do almost the same things.. and some do things better…. But in the end… what works for you works. Period!

I just needed to share these thoughts… no flaming please… PHP rules I use it.. it Rocks! I just happen to love other tools as well!

 

[sleipnir214]

dmcintosh:
$10/month is still $10/month. And we're talking a lot more than $10 if I want to install CF on my own machine.


Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[cian]

I was looking into setting up Cold Fusion on my own machine.
I was learning a bit of cold fusion before and enjoyed it so much I promised i'd return to it. Until I saw the price tag. Now i'm learning PHP instead.

As mentioned Cold fusion also the problem os hosting. You can of course find a good host but if you want or need to change then you're search might hit rocks. Not so with PHP.

Cold Fusion is a great language, not necessarily any better or worse than PHP, there's pros and cons to both and I guess it just depends who you are, user vs developer, rich vs poor




<!--#sig value=''É'' url=''

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[PTmon]

sorry to resurrect a dead thread, but I couldn't find anything else on PHP and coldfusion. I learned coldfusion and changed jobs, new job wants me to learn PHP. I'd love pointers from anyone who's gone this route. What's the easiest and quickest way to get up and running in PHP, concidering a coldfusion background?

Thanks,
PT

http://mahon.homeip.net/remember

 

[neofactor]

I am in the same boat...

I have opted to centralize on PHP coming from a strong CF background. Start with a project, to provide you a clear scope and plan.

Develop the app in theory like you would for Coldfusion, then break each element into sections to manage. Example: Authentication, Contentm Managment, User Authorization... etc.

In the end, code is code... if you know development you can figure out the differences.

Here is a PHP -> CF link which helps you see some similarities (Oppistite but helpful):

http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/mx/coldfusion/articles/php_cfmx.html

 

[skiflyer]

<i> Sure it is limited in good error trapping like Coldfusion... but it will improve as all tools do.
</i>

Falling into the same trap you're warning about... PHP 5 has the exception method, which is about all that was missing in PHP 4.3.x... altho, I personally think the error trapping methods in 4.3.x are plenty great.

 

[ingresman]

Do you want the language/runtime to handle errors? in which case use php5 which has got some really first class stuff in it. Or if you want to handle errors yourself use the @ operator before function calls and check the response code.

 

[skiflyer]

neofactor

I'm far from a PHP bigot... I'm sure CF has its place and is a wonderful technology.

That said, the person who wrote the link you provided is simply not a very knowledgeable or good PHP coder. There are several factual mistakes, and the code he writes is not so hot.

That, or he's intentionally making it look bad.

Just saying I wouldn't use that as a source for any info about PHP.

 

[Olavxxx]

I must say it looks very easy to code in CF, but for me, price is an important factor.

At first, I meerly programmed in C, VB, ASP and used MSsql. Then, I thought I would want to have my own hosting, with my own domain, etc.

When I saw the price-tags for ASP, I thought: damn, I have to learn php.

I then learned php, by looking at codes, reading line by line, etc. Then, I managed to get my teacher to switch to php/mySQL instead of ASP/MSsql, with an hidden intention.

I had already had ASP and MSsql, but I came with some good points on why php/mySQL would be a better combination for us. It was approved by the university of monash as an alternative. (ps. my school was in Norway, but it's classes where approved by University Of Monash, so we can take masters/bachelors degree there).

Olav Alexander Mjelde

http://www.volvo-power.net

Admin & Webmaster

 

[jit1]

Lots of web servers offer PHP support, and the servers are available everywhere.

Regards

 

[gman10]

All-

I am a PHP extreme novice but I read a ton of good things about it whether on this forum and/or hacker magazines etc. I am looking for a website that will go over the BASICS and I do mean basics on "how to code with PHP 101". Does anyone have a URL in mind for someone like me who just wants to get off the ground floor and delve into it slowly but surely??

thanks so much and enjoy the holidays
gman

 

[skiflyer]

http://us2.php.net/tut.php