Hmmmm....
I remember when Cold Fusion first came out. People ridiculed it because it was "tag based."
But then the XML revolution came around and JSPs were a hit. All of a sudden tags were cool again.
Allaire could have been taken out by Java/JSP back then...but they embraced the new technology and
reinvented themselves into a servlet/jar. (Actually I think they took over an "open" project that
created a cold fusion servlet copy...anyone know about that?)
Anyways, it became and is a solid server side platform especially for integrating html with database data.
It merged with a small company called Macromedia(Flash/Shockwave). Was bought by an even smaller company...ADOBE.
What I like about Cold Fusion is that people who understand HTML will understand Cold Fusion. Throw in some database knowledge and advanced online applications can be created. No need for advanced programming skills and for many sites, even large ones, that is all that is needed.
However it is neither free or open source, and is really quite expensive. I end up hosting my projects at an ISP that supports Cold Fusion anyways, so that is not an issue for me.
The truth is that processing is now shifting back towards the client again and away from the server.
You are seeing more powerful online applications(spreadsheet, word, etc.) taking advantage of processing
speeds and of course ajax/javascript/flash in the browser. The server is becoming ubiquitous as Adobe Flex
and MS Silverlight are showing.
So I agree that the space is getting crowded and many other options are available...but how much do you do on the server these days anyways?
