Adobe just released the public betas for ColdFusion 9 and ColdFusion Builder. There will be a flurry of posts on what these products do so I'm going to focus on resources to use.

ColdFusion Builder mailing list

There is a ColdFusion Builder mailing list on House of Fusion that is just waiting for you to subscribe. I'm positive that there will be a LOT of talk about what features should be included, are missing, and how the new IDE stacks up against ColdFusion Studio/Homesite (which has been officially discontinued).

Special ColdFusion Meetup

A special Online ColdFusion Meetup event will take place today, Monday, July 13th at 12:00pm (est). While the meeting is slated for an hour, I expect it to go on for anywhere from 3 to 10. :)

ColdFusion Builder extensions on RIAForge

Once you get your copy of ColdFusion builder installed, go over to the ColdFusion Builder section on RIAForge and download some extra tools. The first thing you might want to get is the RIAForge Downloader from Raymond Camden. This allows you to browse and download RIAForge projects from inside of ColdFusion Builder. Another extension of interest is the QueryParam Scanner Extension to search an application for those nasty queries that are missing the cfqueryparam tag.

Ben Forta's sneak peaks

Ben Forta, also known as the ColdFusion 9 mascot Bentaur, has been releasing sneak peaks and code snippets on his blog for the last few weeks. I highly suggest that people head over there and check out what he's been saying.

Fusion Authority writeup

Last but far from lease, Fusion Authority has released a writeup on what's new and important in ColdFusion 9 and ColdFusion Builder. You've sure to learn something from the article that may be missed from other sources.

Pure Speculation

This is not reality. This is simply speculation. By looking at a few logical points, one can easily trace a path from Mark Drew and CFEclipse to a new open-source editor produced by Railo Technologies. As of now, such a product, let alone a concept, does not exist.

Points of Logic

The speculation leading to an open-source CFML editor follows a few simple points of logic:

• Mark Drew is currently the driving force behind CFEclipse.
• CFEclipse is an open-source CFML editor built on Eclipse
• CFEclipse has kind of stagnated due to the need for development resources.
• Mark Drew now works as the CEO of Railo Technologies UK.
• Railo is an open-source CFML engine produced by Railo Technologies.
• Adobe is creating a ColdFusion editor based on Eclipse code-named Bolt.

Tying It All Together

If Railo Technologies decided to put some resources behind Mark Drew with the express purpose of expanding out CFEclipse, they could easily do so. Such a product, which we'll refer to as CFML Builder, would be quick to market simply because it's built on a pre-existing codebase. This would be an open-source equivalent to Bolt, much as Railo is an open-source equivalent to the ColdFusion server.

How Do We Make It Happen?

As this is all speculation, we have no idea if Railo Technologies is actually doing this or not. But we can convince them that this is a good idea. Contact them. Ask them if there's any thought of such a product. Don't badger them, but put the idea in their heads. If 1,000+ ColdFusion programmers all ask about such a product, the chances of it becoming a reality are greater. The idea here is to show them that this is something that the community desires.

What I Want Out of It

I'm an unabashed HomeSite user. I've tried to use CFEclipse over the years, and just could not get into it, especially as it didn't do what I needed. If a few simple things were added to an editor, I would move. The main thing I use in HomeSite is the right-click Expression Builder. After that, I use the tag wizards and the help. I know all the tags; I know all the functions. But for some obscure ones, being able to see the exact spelling or arguments is useful. The ability to see things like the format options for dateformat(), timeformat(), and numberformat() is also a big reason for using the Expression Builder. I'm sure others have specific features of HomeSite which they truly enjoy, and you can find numerous posts from ColdFusion-Talk and various blogs discussing it. On the whole, I don't see the features that I want as being insurmountable, and I'm sure the features that others want would also be rather simple to put in. All that's needed is the resources to make it happen - resources that Railo Technologies could provide.