Rick, Yes a framework can be built in PHP, C# or any language but how would you like to design something like this. <cfpage> <cfframe> <cfinputHidden Name="test" Caption="New Record"> <cfinputText Name="FirstName" Caption="First Name"> </cfframe> </cfpage> The above is tags that I am referring to very similar to java tag libraries, these tags read data from a database, validate and display the data like windows .net forms in a webpage. Yes the framework took a little time to develop, but it was worth the time invested. Now this same framework even decides whether it is updating inserting or deleting from the database as well as server / client side validation. Seems to be a lot of work for such a few lines of code, the beauty is that I have not been able to replicated the same in any other language whether it be php, perl or even c#. I could even do this. <cfimport taglib="tagLocation" prefix="test"> and use it like this <test:helloTag message="Hello" /> Now the above tag can be either coldfusion or even java tag libraries building on even more free code that is out in the public domain. Anyway the point is that open and closing tags do offer a lot of benefits if you know how to use them, think of the code that the browser does to do things like <body></body> coldfusion is the same and makes building rapid sites very rapid. I am not out to push coldfusion, I am just wanting to say that Coldfusion can be used free of charge with New Atlanta's Blue Dragon. Why are you held bent on saying you need to purchase coldfusion? But the thing is PHP can not be delivered onto a J2EE server, coldfusion can and that is the biggest seller to coldfusion meaning it becomes more deployable than any other language out there across all platforms without even installing coldfusion on that machine. PHP is not J2EE and can not be deployed onto a J2EE server without installing php on that machine, and then installing the application, another big selling point of coldfusion. Anyway there are always pros and cons to any language, and yes I am biased towards Coldfusion because it's so underrated by the fact it costs. Well it can be used installed and used free again New Atlanta has seen to this with Blue Dragon, but again to use the must have features you need to purchase the product to get the features you might use. Which you need to way up, is it worth going with something free, or could I leverage of the sms gateway to utilise sms messaging, or even use the report tools built into coldfusion to deliver invoices without too much effort. Or maybe you have data in a database and need to create a pdf, with a simple tag this can be achieved as it is built in. PHP would need to source this, time spent evaluating and then deciding whether it mets the needs, no then look again, more time waisted. If it was me, I would be looking at what the project requires, which language can be used to deliver the project on time on budget and without purchasing or sourcing too much extra code and then trying to get it to fit into that application. Coldfusion offers more than you think with coldfusion 7 offering sms gateways and such which you need extra applications to use in php. At the end of the day you, the guy around the corner and even me will use what we need to use to get the job done. Don't get me wrong I like php, it has a good support for free stuff, but it's a pain in the butt to configure it into a full blown application without modifications, which some languages have built in. -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
