Web Research Sites
While there are many Web sites offering information on ColdFusion, a lot of what's out there is pretty technical and therefore of limited use to the CF neophyte or to those simply curious about the product. As to the quality of the data - in most cases these sites have been set up by professionals. They designed the product, they use the product, they assess and write about the product, they teach the product. Sites in nearly all cases carry copyrights, contact names, and e-mail or other addresses. Many offer a bio of their author, and it is reasonable to suppose that they also offer reliable, up-to-date information. These then, listed in no particular order, are some of the ones I explored in the process of gathering data for this project:

This is a local Vancouver site for the DeFusion
e-zine which is only in its fifth issue. In the main, the information here is directed at a far better-informed audience than the CF beginner, though there is a wealth of data including tips and techniques, how-to's for advanced features, link resources, and both feedback and subscription forms (all powered, of course, by ColdFusion). While I didn't draw much more than links from this site, I plan to return when I know more about ColdFusion.

There is plenty of information here for both newbies and the better-informed, including lots of code examples and a fairly extensive how-to segment. Run out of San Antonio by Robert T. Baker of RTB Design for the Internet, the material is copyrighted and updates are clearly indicated. Mr. Baker appears to be happy to share his credentials, all of which leads one to believe the data is probably pretty reliable.

A dreadful color scheme and somewhat confusing navigation system are barriers to be surmounted, but there is definitely worthwhile information here, including a large selection of coding and coding 'tricks'.

This is Ben Forta's ColdFusion site, and while
there is an abundance of data here, much of it is in the form of links to other sites, lists of CF ISPs,
and information aimed at a considerably more sophisticated audience than this research paper addresses. Mr. Forta is well-respected in the CF community so information provided here can be accepted pretty much as gospel. Of general interest is the long list of ColdFusion user companies.
There is also a link here to Stoneage, the massive automotive site.

This is the home of ColdFusion and its sister product HomeSite. While navigation tends to be cumber-
some, and the site would benefit from some design consultation, the information is of a very high quality. In the main, data is presented in an understandable fashion though, as is often the case in the world of hi-tech, the acronyms come thick and furious at times. The site itself is quite large, and whether this leads to the frequent redundancies is unclear. Be that as it may, much of the data for this presentation was derived here.

This site was copyrighted in 1996 by LockNet InterMedia, and would appear to have received little attention since, though the couple of prices quoted (for ColdFusion) were current. All links resulted in 404s, and even the images were dead.

Darius Design also offers Web hosting and apparently uses CF for dynamic applications. The overview of ColdFusion they provide is current, brief, and easily understood. Data was copyrighted to 1999.

This is yet another overview of ColdFusion - this one listing pages and pages of product features, compatibilities, and database support. Much of this is quite useful to the uninitiated as terms and features that are not self-explanatory are briefly explained.

This site has pre-written ColdFusion scripts, a job board, a forum, tips for all levels of proficiency (very limited), and a list of sites using ColdFusion. However, despite a wide range of topics, there isn't much more here than a large advertisement for Allaire and related books, sites, etc.

Reviews of ColdFusion and its competitors are one of the features of this e-zine; also forum/newsgroup for readers of Internetworld Magazine. Questions and answers address real concerns of real ColdFusion users, and are probably very useful. Unfortunately, the format is very time consuming for pursuing general information.

A very brief copyrighted overview of ColdFusion 4.0 (makes my presentation look long-winded and exhaustive); a surprising amount of information in a very few words.

This well-known site was a useful source of information about the most popular books on the subject of ColdFusion, as well as the kind of price range to expect. Information is obviously up-to-date, quite well laid out, and easy to find. You can even elect to be e-mailed every time a new book is released based on pre-selected keywords (I didn't, but the facility is there).

Another web site powered by ColdFusion. This one offers cut-and-paste CF code among other programming tools. Up-to-date, but not particularly useful to the uninitiated.