Mastering Coldfusion 5 (Paperback)

Some things to note about this book are the tips, warnings and debugging explanations throughout the tutorials. For instance, in Chapter 3 we are told how to set up datasources in CF Administrator. There is then a short section explaining what might go wrong, why, and how to fix them. This particular example explains some common and less common problems, including remote datasource connection issues when using a firewall. The Tutorials are backed up with screenshots and a CDROM containing the code examples and custom tags featured throughout the book. Thinking of almost everything, the publishers have included the following software on the CDROM: Evaluation copies of ColdFusion Server 5.0 (Linux, Solaris, Unix and Windows) and Jrun Server 3.1, Apache web server, Flash component kit, IE 5.5 and Adobe Acrobat reader. Finally there is an electronic version of the book so you don't have to make your laptop bag any heavier.

Another thing that impresses me is the tutorials on working with databases and SQL. In the past I have read books on CF that explain how to use the CFQuery tag, and back it up with a couple of very simple SQL code examples. However, here we have the introduction, and then later in the book there are several chapters on working with databases. The first of these deals with creating databases, which is a basic introduction to database design. The next chapter goes on to deal with the CFQuery tag, basic use of SQL statements and the ColdFusion Studio SQL builder. The last of these chapters is a guide to advanced CFQuery features, which covers SQL joins and table manipulation, query caching, dynamic database connections and optimisation. There's also an appendix of SQL functions and data types, with labelling that shows which of the popular databases are supported. Its not going to teach you how to build a database to run the London stock exchange, but it's a pretty good reference if you haven't got your favourite SQL book to hand.

For those of you who need a more advanced reference with the odd tutorial on security, optimisation and perhaps the new tags in ColdFusion 5, you're not going to be disappointed. There are various chapters on Administering CF Server, user defined functions, using COM objects and more. The tag and function references are taken from the ColdFusion Language Reference, and are clearly laid out. It is difficult for me to say whether this book is a good learning tool for beginners, but I would think so. As for an intermediate to advanced CF book, it gets my vote.
(By Chris Tazewell, Northern UK ColdFusion User Group)