Web Applications Development Using Coldbox Platform Eddie Johnston

 Model View Controller event- driven Coldfusion Framework.  Tool Set & Software foundation  Object Oriented Principles  Established on Code Controllers

 Application features: bug reporting, logging, caching, debug tools, and much more.  Unit Test the entire application.

 Coldbox provides these defaults  Allows for files, classes, or methods to be put in the correct location  Faster production

 Provides for the development of:  Dynamic websites  Web applications  Web services

 Commonly called CFML  Scripting Language for Web Development  Runs on common engines  Open source implementations of CFML engines  Adobe ColdFusion  BlueDragon  Many More

Rundown:  Supplements normal HTML files  database commands  conditional operators  formatting functions  CFCs, “CFML objects”

Does not just generate HTML  CSS  XML  JavaScript  Much More

 Not a markup language  Not SGML  CFML engine:  handles.cfm or.cfc files  processes CFML tags and functions

CFML syntax  CFML tags similar to HTML tags  or  #value# Class!

CFML Custom Tags  Line to call myOwnCustTag.cfm 

 Reusable code  Libraries for accessing databases  Handling sessions

Web Application Framework Architecture:  Most follow: Model View Controller (MVC)  Examples:.NET  PHP  Python  Java  JavaScript  much more 

 Coldbox  AJAX  MVC Framework  ORM  Testing Framework  Caching Utilities and Services  And much more

Application Client View Model Controller DB

 Key ideas:  Model: directs the data or behavior of an application domain  View: Renders data into a form typically to appeal to a UI  Controller: retrieves input and starts the response. Guides the model and view based on the input

Architecture Not Framework:  Can be implemented without object oriented programming or a class hierarchy.

Advantages:  View is separate from Model: no dependency directly  UI can render many different views of the same data at once.  Changes are easy to maintain  Layouts are simple to change that will not effect the data that is rendered

 Original Designed for multiple tier web application in  Became open source July  Developed by Luis Majano of Ortus Solutions  Continued development by Team Coldbox  Build: 3.1.0

 Unit test an entire application  Enterprise debugging, monitoring, caching, etc.  Code controllers (based on CFCs)  More than just MVC framework  Development tools and event-driven

 Documentation  250+ pages of documentation  30 Step by Step Guides  Coldbox Dictionary  The reason why we document: makes life easier for the developer.

 Code Controllers  No XML Dialect to describe your application  Based on CFC’s and conventions  Multiple applications with concise and common configuration files  Smart Caching

 Custom Convention  Coldbox knows where to find code  Coldbox knows what to execute  Customizable  Create own layouts, handlers, configuration files

 Debugging tools  Gives a lot of information for what is happening  Times events & code  Built in timer plugin  Visual feedback  Debugging monitors

 Software Aspects  Logging Facilities  Helper classes  Query helpers(sorting or filtering), java utilities, file utilities  Environment detection  Can detect between development, or production (multi-tier)  Bug reports to send wherever you want  Create own plugins

Request Collection Layouts Views View Controller Model Plugins Event Handlers Interceptor s Model Business Layer Plugins

 Imitates a User Request  Set values into, Get values from  Request Scope  Framework access

Ins and Outs:  CFC  Coldfuison Events are Public or Remote Methods  Execution Points  Event = handler.method

 CFC  Extends functionality of Coldbox Framework  Visual  Smart Caching  How to call a plugin  Messagebox plugin:

 Framework executes interceptors at execution points  preEvent, afterConfigurationLoad, etc.  Custom Interceptor points  Broadcasted through Application Programming Interface

Define a main default layout Define in Configuration File: Views to be rendered instead of layouts Layouts View s

Files in the Handler Directory

Code inside the Main handler

Layout Directory

Sidebar to a web application generated by Coldbox Framework

Snippet from Add Customer of Sidebar

 Web applications are not just websites  Convention Framework  More than MVC framework

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