Unlike HTML, CSS and JavaScript, which are lingua francas of the Internet, the heavy lifting of a website on the back end can be accomplished in a number of ways. Two of the most popular languages used to create dynamic websites are PHP and ColdFusion. Connecting to a database and manipulating the data contained within it is really the meaty part of web development. It's also the main culprit responsible for most of the headaches associated with website building. PHP and Adobe ColdFusion are equally powerfu
PHP has the advantage of being extremely widespread and heavily used by all sorts of websites, typically being run in conjunction with an Apache HTTP server and a MySQL database. Thanks to its popularity, there's a deep community of developers that one can draw on for support and advice when it comes to technical questions. In addition, PHP is a free and open source technology that doesn't require the purchase of any expensive software or licenses. That having been said, it can be somewhat more difficult th
ColdFusion is an extremely attractive option for rapid prototyping and development of websites and applications. It's also perfect for beginners who aren't really programmers, as the language itself is fairly easy to pick up compared to PHP. ColdFusion integrates well with Flash frameworks like Flex, which is convenient when working on Rich Internet Applications or sites that are very media-heavy. ColdFusion sites also require less coding than PHP, while being nearly as versatile overall. The main drawback