Category: Programming
Using the GetMetaData() Function
Posted on Feb 09, 2007
One of ColdFusion's most useful and versatile but oft-forgotten built-in functions is getMetaData(). The great thing about getMetaData is that it gives you a ton of insight into basically any type of ColdFusion variable, though the behavior can differ greatly depending on the context. So, as a refresher to those who have forgotten about it, or as an introduction to those who may have never known, here is an overview of how you can use the getMetaData() function.
Generating Code vs. Generating Applications
Posted on Jan 17, 2007
This started off as a comment to Steve Bryant's response ("On Code Generation") to my article ("Build a Code Generator in Five Easy Steps") but it got out of hand - yes, I am verbose, sue me.
First, I want to thank Steve for the link. He offers some interesting ideas. There are many paths to code generation obviously, and I only described how I did it, not how it must be done. Here are some of my thoughts to his suggestions...
Is OO Programming in Decline?
Posted on Dec 06, 2006
DZone had a link to a post by Allen Riddle discussing what he called the decline of OO in the enterprise. It is a brief opinion piece in which he states that in many cases the push for service oriented architectures (SOA) has caused OO to be lost because objects become little more than data structures used to pass information around in a service layer that functions very much like a procedural application. He gives the example that you might then find a car object that doesn't know how to drive, but rather is told how to by the service.
XML Haters United
Posted on Dec 01, 2006
Peter Bell recently sparked debate within the ColdFusion community about the value of XML, specifically focused on the ubiquitous XML config file. Peter (at the time) was part of an increasingly vocal group of XML haters within larger community of programmers in various languages. Peter has since been converted, but the argument will not go away. Take, for instance, this post which claims in its title to reveal some fallacies about XML but ends up being simply a collection of comments made by others about generally not liking XML (I, for one, never caught a single fallacy that was laid bare here).
Objects and Frameworks - The Service Layer
Posted on Sep 17, 2006
During many of the mailing list discussions that I follow regarding object-oriented development in ColdFusion, we often get someone asking for help organizing their code properly. Inevitably someone mentions how you should keep business logic in the service layer. This will often elicit a response from the questioner that they understand beans, DAOs and gateways but don't know what the service layer is (or something along these lines). So what I would like to achieve here is a brief discussion of what the service layer is for beginners (therefore I am going to emphasize simplicity possibly over technical correctness at times).