The Definitive Guide To The ColdBox Platform: Version 2.6.3

I was tasked to work on an old version of ColdBox and could not have done without it. Thank goodness it was still available. Luis is verbose in the extreme as he doesn't miss any point. Only criticism is that it took over 100 pages of reading to get to the meat of the subject

ColdFusion has always been a web application tool and language that is easy to learn and use yet mature and powerful enough to drive some of the most challenging applications. It has simply no match in the industry. The full power of robust, high performance and maintainable ColdFusion web applications with MVC and object-oriented technology is readily available in the ColdBox framework. There is no other ColdFusion framework with a better documentation than ColdBox. And one could hardly wish for more than having its master, Luis Majano, to explain it in full details in an introductory but comprehensive book.As with any other similar effort, this book isn't perfect. The original full color printing is only available in black and white. Some of the code is then printed in very light gray where it was originally in blue. The full-colored original pictures have been translated into gray pictures where the different colors of the original are not only lost but also make it hard to distinguish some elements in the picture (the PDF and Kindle editions come in full color, though). The sequence of the chapters is not kind to beginners either. The highlights of chapter 1 should have been placed in the preface. Chapter 3 (with some added highlights of chapter 1 at the end), 4 and 5 should have been the first chapters, whereas chapters 1 and 2 should have come just after them. I strongly recommend that the author makes these changes in a future printing of the book, including the use of a different color scheme (for example, like the books made by SitePoint or the Missing Manual series). Otherwise, many potential readers, especially beginners, may get a false impression of this otherwise excellent book. For now, I suggest that readers new to ColdBox follow the sequence I have outlined here.But make no mistake. This book is the work of a world class developer, one of the best in the industry. A masterful piece of software explained by a highly talented and seasoned ColdFusion developer. The writing blends brilliant ideas with pragmatic views, the sort that you would expect to find when a master decides to explain his brainchild turned reality. One just can't afford to miss it. Your web applications will never be the same again. And may I dare to say, in a way, you too.

Over all, the book is ok. I wasn't expecting something as well written as the Ben Forta books. I hope that future releases have better editing. It is rare to get past a few pages without finding a typo, incorrect word choice or such.One of the biggest failings of the book and IMAO (in my arrogant opinion) most ColdBox tutorials, is that it presupposes that the reader already understands frameworks or such. As such, the book is NOT a good starting ground for someone moving from conventional ColdFusion programming that is wanting to transition smoothly into ColdBox.I find it ironic that if I had any real background with frameworks, I probably wouldn't have felt the need to buy the book.From a marketing and adoption stand point, I think they should have followed in Ben Forta's foot steps and spent more time with the basics.I would have been much, much happier if they had used 10-20 pages more and started off with more info on the framework approach. At that point, I think I would have been happy paying $10 more for the book than I did.On a side note, I like ColdBox and what it is for, but the team should test the sample applications that come with it a bit more and comment them to explain how they work. Yes, this is easy for me to say, considering that I am not on the team and providing my free time to work on the project. Perhaps I should `put my money where my mouth is' so to speak and debug & comment one or more of the sample apps and then submit them?In summary, the book is worth buying. It is a good first effort, but leaves something to be desired in regards to the editing and it's covering of the transition from traditional ColdFusion programming to a framework.Have fun with ColdBox. It's a good framework from what I have seen so far and is likely to only get better.

It's good book and give you detailed information about cold box framework.

Coldbox is *the* enterprise ColdFusion framework and toolkit.I've written several enterprise level ColdFusion apps in ColdBox.If you're a CF developer, this book is a must have. Buy it.