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The ColdFusion Podcast Roundup: Thursday, May 18, 2006

by Charlie Griefer, Fusion Authority Media Reviewer

The ColdFusion Podcast

Episode 24: Reactor

Once upon a time, there was a little web application language that made it easy to integrate database data into a Web page. Generally speaking, your query went on the top of the page, and the output at the bottom. It was all very glorious in its own 640x480 way.

A decade later, things have changed. True, ColdFusion can still be used as that same straightforward, procedural top-to-bottom language of back in the day. But today there are a myriad of other options. Frameworks and OO and MVC (oh my). And what's this now? ORM?

Yes, Reactor is an ORM (Object Relational Mapper) written for ColdFusion by Doug Hughes.

If you're familiar with the concept of an ORM, or if you?ve already downloaded and played with Reactor, this week?s episode of The ColdFusion Podcast may be too basic for you. However, if the notion of having your SQL code (mostly) written for you sounds intriguing, you'll want to tune in.

Bryan and Michael have already discussed a couple of frameworks in previous weeks (Model-Glue in Episode 20 and Fusebox in Episode 23). This was intentional, as many people use Reactor in conjunction with one of the existing ColdFusion frameworks (commonly Model-Glue). It's possible to use Reactor on its own, but much of the sample code that's available shows Reactor being used in conjunction with a framework, so it does help to have at least a minimal understanding of frameworks in general.

So what is Reactor and what does it do? Or, more importantly, what does it not do? Bryan and Michael do a good job of setting realistic expectations. No, using Reactor does not mean that you don?t have to write SQL anymore. It does mean is that you will no longer write your SQL inside of ColdFusion. You'll be writing it inside of Reactor. Some of the advantages of this include modularity, reusability, and the ability to easily support multiple databases with your application.

Overall, the episode is a very balanced overview of Reactor. The advantages are discussed at length, but some caveats and concerns are also mentioned. For example, the need for mappings could be an issue for people in shared hosting environments, as well as the fact that Reactor does write code to 2 different locations, which could make ongoing maintenance tricky over time.

While these concerns are valid, they are substantially minimal when compared to the advantages of utilizing Reactor. Anybody who has gone through the tedious exercise of building an add/update form and thought, "there must be an easier way" ...should give a listen and then give Reactor a try.

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ColdFusion Weekly

Version 1.8 Beta: Did We Say We Have The News?

In an effort to keep episode lengths manageable, Matt and Peter recently stated that on weeks when they have a guest in the CF_HotSeat, the CFReport (news) will be intentionally light. Likewise, on weeks when the CF_HotSeat is empty, they'll delve more thoroughly into the news.

This week is a news week.

If you are a daily visitor to the "blogsphere" via sites like fullasagoog, MXNA, or via RSS feeds or even your own bookmarks, there likely won't be too much information that you've not yet heard. However, if you are not a blog reader, or have been too busy to keep up, Version 1.8 of ColdFusion Weekly is a convenient way to catch up on a week's worth of ColdFusion related news in under an hour.

As somebody who has gone on record as stating that he thought the podcast often ran a bit too long, I absolutely applaud the efforts of Matt and Peter to keep each episode under an hour. I appreciate that they?re enthusiastic and have a lot to share, but I do find it easier to dedicate the time to listen to a podcast if I can do it in a single sitting.

The items discussed are listed (with links) at http://coldfusionweekly.com/. But if you?ve got the time, tune in. Not only might you hear about something that slipped through your RSS reader, but it?s interesting to hear Matt and Peter?s takes on each item.

It's a little bit of a slower pace than previous Versions, but after eight consecutive weeks of putting out an hour long (if not more) show, Matt and Peter deserve a breather. Here they manage to do it while still helping to keep the community informed and educated.

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Out Loud

Episode 24: AJAX Part

In one of their more technical episodes (in recent weeks, at least), Hal and Jeff talk about AJAX.

It's not a technically heavy episode by any means, as it focuses more on the history of AJAX. As Hal mentions, AJAX is not a new technology, but more accurately, it's a technology that's recently been re-discovered. It's an existing technology that has been re-tooled to allow client-server communication without forcing the page to reload on the client.

A couple of potential uses for AJAX are discussed, including some recent implementations by both Hal and Jeff. Not only do they discuss how they implemented it, but they discuss why, which is just as important. There are reasons to use AJAX, and there are reasons not to. It's good to understand this when deciding whether or not to put AJAX to use in your application.

There are also a couple of ways to easily hook AJAX into your ColdFusion. CFAJAX and AjaxCFC allow you to easily integrate the two technologies. However, it is suggested that you get comfortable with AJAX on its own before implementing an API/framework that effectively does much of the work for you.

As the title implies, this is Part I of a multi-part trilogy. It sets a solid foundation in explaining what the technology is, what it is not, when you may want to use it, and when you might not. I'm not sure how many parts there will be (Douglas Adams didn't have to stick to the rules regarding a trilogy, so why should Helms and Peters?), but I'm looking forward to hearing future episodes. Hal and Jeff have a very unique and effective way of teaching that should work in their favor (and ours) as the lesson progresses and the content gets more involved.

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Charlie Griefer is a Software Engineer at Vurv Technology (formerly Recruitmax) in Jacksonville, FL, where he spends his days (and on occasion, evenings and nights) developing world-class workforce management, staffing and recruiting software solutions.

In his spare time, he enjoys being a father of two and a husband of one.

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