ColdFusion 9 Developer Tutorial

Table of Contents

• Preface

• Chapter 1: Web Pages—Static to Dynamic
  • Turning HTML into a dynamic web page
    • HTML requests
    • ColdFusion requests
      • Comments
      • Variable output
      • Functions
  • Understanding and using simple variables
    • Variable types
      • Integers
      • Strings
      • Decimals
      • Additional functions
      • Find and FindNoCase
  • Understanding structures
    • CGI variables
  • Let's get interactive
    • URL variables
    • Exception handling
      • Standard error exception
      • <CFTRY> and <CFCATCH>
  • Setting page defaults
    • HTML links
  • Introduction to lists and loops
  • Understanding arrays
  • Conditional processing with If/<cfif>
  • Conditional processing with switch
  • Summary

• Chapter 2: Basic CFCs and Database Interaction
  • Our first CFC
  • Our first object
    • Product (object)
  • Using an object constructor
  • Connecting to a database
  • Returning data from the CFC
  • Making our data query flexible
  • The basic data object concept
  • Object method access control
  • Summary

• Chapter 3: Power CFCs and Web Forms
  • The practice of protecting access
  • Web forms introduction
  • Managing our product data
  • Getting data to our edit page
  • Saving our data
  • Improving page flow
  • Adding a new record
  • Let's look under the hood
  • Summary

• Chapter 4: ORM Database Interaction
  • Introduction to ORM in ColdFusion
    • ORM-enabled application configuration
    • ORM-enabled CFCs
    • Understanding entities
  • Working with entity-object relationships
    • Many-to-many relationships
    • Working with relational data
  • ORM functions
  • Summary

• Chapter 5: Application, Session, and Request Scope
  • Life span
  • Introducing the Application.cfc object
  • Application variables
  • The start methods
    • Application start method—onApplicationStart()
    • Session start method—onSessionStart()
    • Request start method—onRequestStart()
  • The end methods
    • Request end method—onRequestEnd()
    • Session end method—onSessionEnd()
    • Application end method—onApplicationEnd()
    • On Error method—onError()
  • Scope visibility
  • Practical application
  • Universal datasource
  • Mappings per application
  • Custom tag paths per application
  • Summary

• Chapter 6: Authentication and Permissions
  • How ColdFusion recognizes users
  • Custom authentication (additional power)
    • Authentication data model
    • Customizing authentication
  • Extra notes
  • Summary

• Chapter 7: CFScript
  • Script basics
    • Variables
    • Switch/case
    • If/then/else
    • For loops
    • For/in loops
    • Do/while loops
    • While loops
  • Exception handling
    • Throw/abort
  • New functions/commands in CF9
  • Summary

• Chapter 8: CF AJAX User Interface
  • Changing times
    • HTML-based websites
    • Server-side languages
    • Browser-side applications
      • Flash
      • JavaScript
  • ColdFusion AJAX
    • Layout
      • <cfdiv />
      • <cflayout />
      • <cfpod />
      • <cfwindow />
    • Menus and tool tips
      • <cfmenu />
      • <cftooltip />
  • Styling notes
  • Tips
  • Map interaction
  • Summary

• Chapter 9: CF AJAX Forms
  • AJAX forms
    • <cfgrid />
    • Grid paging
  • Grid updates and deletes
  • Linked grids
    • <cfinput />
      • Binding page elements
    • Binding immediately upon load
  • The date requestor
  • The autosuggest box
    • <cfselect />
    • <cftextarea />
    • <cftree />
  • The directory tree
  • Message boxes
  • Progress bar
  • Summary

• Chapter 10: CF AJAX Programming
  • Binding
    • On-page binding
    • CFC binding
    • JavaScript binding
    • URL binding
  • Bind with event
  • Extra binding notes
  • Multiple radio buttons or checkboxes and multiple select
  • Spry binding
  • CFAJAXProxy
    • CFAJAX proxy binding
  • CFC proxy class objects
  • Client debugging
  • Firebug
  • Built-in debugging
    • Logging features
    • Customization
    • Automatically wired AJAX links
    • Execute JavaScript after loading content
    • Other cool commands
    • Post for CFAJAX calls
    • CFAJAX browser JavaScript API overview
  • Summary

• Chapter 11: Introduction to Custom Tags
  • Different forms of code reuse
    • CFCs
    • CFInclude
  • Custom tags
    • Our first custom tag
  • Custom header/footer tags
  • Nested tags
  • CFInclude from custom tags
  • Templates versus skins
  • Managing custom tags
  • CFModule approach
  • Tag library approach
  • Summary

• Chapter 12: ColdFusion Powered Views
  • What is open source?
  • The fun factor
    • Installing the library
    • Getting started
  • Happily separated
    • Manipulate DOM from server-side code
  • Turning lemons to lemonade
    • Separation complete
  • Fun with lists
    • Select list tag
    • Other list tags
  • Better form coding
    • Metadata
    • Smart form modes
      • Edit mode
      • Add mode
      • View mode
    • Style simplified
      • But wait, there's more!
  • Custom list item rendering
    • Module render option
  • Summary

• Chapter 13: Control Logic Processing
  • The code side of applications
    • The model
    • The controller
  • Shared variables
  • Processing request events
    • Event model for the coprocessor
      • onPageStart() method
      • onFirstCall() method
      • onPostBack() method
      • Form modes
      • beforeViewCall() method
      • onPageEnd() method
  • Remote AJAX events
  • Data versatility
    • Lists
    • Array of structures
    • Modified data field names
    • Query handling
  • Personal extension of COOP
  • Summary

• Chapter 14: Guide to Unit Testing
  • When to test
    • Mission critical
    • Test-driven development
    • Regression testing
  • Installing our testing software
  • Understanding assertions
    • First test class
    • Multiple tests
      • HTML view
      • Data view
    • Built-in assertions
    • MXUnit assertion extensions
  • Testing private methods
  • Testing included files and custom tags
    • Variable testing
    • Exception testing
  • A son's view of testing
  • Summary

• Appendix A: Beyond this Book
  • Areas of interest
    • Perspectives
      • Business perspective
      • Design/marketing perspective
      • Developer perspective
  • Current technologies
    • AJAX
    • Flash (Flex/AIR)
    • Future
      • HTML 5
      • Devices
  • Scale versus implementation
  • Standards
    • Libraries
      • Size
      • Features
      • Begin with the end in mind
      • Research
    • Frameworks
    • Methodologies

• Appendix B: Tools and Resources
  • AJAX
    • Firebug
    • jQuery
  • Analytics
    • Google webmaster tools
  • Coding
  • Conferencing and collaboration
    • Acrobat.com
    • Google Docs
    • GoToMeeting/Webinar
    • Slide-sharing sites
  • Data-management tools
  • Graphics creation/acquisition
    • Camtasia Studio
    • Color Schemer
    • Fireworks
    • Lightroom
    • SnagIt
  • Open source libraries
  • Project management
    • FreshBooks
    • Project Tracker
  • Source control
  • Usability
    • Morae
  • Virtual development box
  • XML

• Index

John Farrar

I think this is an amazing book for any ColdFusion developer at any level.

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