Im answering this late so you probably already have your answer but as I
have worked in most of the major languages, here is my take.

Disclaimer. I don't like cold fusion because it is a purely propritory
product, and I don't think it has half the power of the main stream
languages.

For what it's worth here is my choice on a scale of 1- 10

1. PHP  rating. 9
  A very powerful language. Only downside is need to write different code
for different DB's.
2. Perl rating 7.5.
(I've never used Python on a project, but from what I have heard and from my
limited experience it ranks with or above PERL)
3. ASP rating 7.5 good for DB's and XML, bad if you need to manipulate
headers and raw html, but will MS stop supporting it in a few years?
4. ASP.NET  rating 7.0 It $^#@^*%@ well is breaking W3 DOM compliance. But
if you need to do web services and work in an MS shop this is probably the
way to go. DB only works really well with SQL Server where it is almost as
fast as mySQL.
5. JSP  Rating 7.0 Again I don't have much experience with this. Tends to be
a little slower than ASP on benchmarking.
6. Java. Rating 5.0 because Java serlets tend to be reaaaaal slow!
7. CFM rating 3.0. A proprietory solution that is expensive to licence and
not nearly as powerful as any of the above. Proponents claim that the
learning curve is less steep than any of the above solutions, but if you
have programmed for any time you can pick up enough of most languages to do
some really useful stuff in 2-3 weeks.

All in all for a mid sized web site NOT using XML go with PHP and mySQL

For the same using XML go with ASP or Perl (or Python)

If you are a Java fan co with JSP (good for XML as well)

Frank

(Latest Book co-authored 'XML.NET Developers Guide' from Syngress Press by
Sills, Boumphrey and Ortiz)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Gibson, Timmi" <timmig(at)verbatim.com.au>
To: <hwg-techniques(at)hwg.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 12, 2002 6:45 PM
Subject: CFM vs ASP


Hi there everyone

We are in the process of having our website overhauled - changing from
static HTML pages to a dynamic database driven website. Out of the
developers we are looking at to assist with the project wants to use
Cold Fusion and the other ASP. My boss has asked me to research the
strengths/weaknesses and advantages/disadvantages of each.

I have found lots of stuff on why you would use CFM over ASP (Macromedia
has lots of info) but not many that say the other way around. I couldn't
find anything on the Microsoft website comparing the 2 products. To make
sure I present a balanced view and so he doesn't accuse me of being
biased could those of you in the know please either give me your
thoughts or point me to some reference material that would help.

Thanks!

Timmi Gibson
Marketing Communications Coordinator
Verbatim Australia
Ph 61 3 9823 0905
Fax 61 3 9824 7011
Web http://www.verbatim.com.au

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