Netcraft is running a story on how in March “the number of IP addresses with sites using ASP.NET has overtaken those using JSP and Java Servlets.” But look at the graph seen on http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2004/03/23/aspnet_overtakes_jsp_and_java_servlets.html. It definitely shows ASP.NET on the rise, but it also shows ColdFusion use still climbing, and significantly ahead of both ASP.NET and JSP/Servlets.
Now, just to be clear, this chart shows ASP.NET and not ASP. Had ASP been included it would have been up top. And the fact that ASP.NET has so quickly taken over JSP and Servlets is not really surprising (and is more a testament to how painful and unintuitive JSP and Servlet development is than anything else).
For me, the most important part of the chart is the red ColdFusion line which is still climbing. Considering how often we hear the “ColdFusion is dead” proclamation, this is relevant and exciting. Especially when taken in context. Netcraft only pings public facing sites, the space that has never represented where ColdFusion is most used (by some estimates more than 75% of ColdFusion use is on Intranets etc.). In other words, even where ColdFusion has never really dominated, it continues to remain strong and growing. That’s compelling, indeed.
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