"Nesting" refers to the use of tags within tags - for example, statements within statements, or statements within statements. There are valid reasons to nest your code, but avoid nesting too deeply. Nesting impacts application performance - but worse, it also tends to make your code less...
Ask many developers why native database drivers should be used (instead of ODBC drivers) and you'll almost always be told that it is to improve performance. But the truth is, there is very little performance gain (if any) when using native database drivers, so if that is the reason you are...
is used to call stored-procedures. can be used to call stored procedures too. So which should you use? is simpler to use, but it does not support the use of multiple result sets, return codes, or output parameters. is a little trickier to use, but supports all of these. Plus, queries can be cached,...
Form field names, variable names, anything that contains data that corresponds to database columns should be named exactly the same as the columns they represent. This will simplify your coding and debugging dramatically. (Applies to: ColdFusion All)
lets you display a specific page if an error occurs, but that is usually not enough. To take programmatic action when an error occurs (for example, notifying yourself via e-mail, or attempting to fix the problem) you should use try-catch handling using the and tags. (Applies to: ColdFusion 4 (or...
Need to create a link to a local file in Studio? Just find that file in the Resource Tab and drag it into your code - a complete will be generated, and the page will automatically be the link text. Of course, this will only work if you have already saved the file you are working on (if not Studio...
The ParameterExists() function checks to see if a variable exists, so does IsDefined(). But IsDefined() is far more powerful and flexible, and should be used instead of the older ParameterExists() function. You can use IsDefined() anywhere you used ParameterExists(), but there is one important...
Need to temporarily remove a line or two of code while testing your CF app? Comment the code out by putting after. The code between those comment tags will not be processed by ColdFusion. (Applies to: ColdFusion All)
Finding yourself working with lots of APPLICATION or SESSION variables? Instead of creating lots of individual variables within those scopes, consider creating structures and putting your variables within them. This will greatly reduce the risk of variable overwriting, and will help keep your code...
ColdFusion should be running on a dedicated box running nothing else (other than the operating system and HTTP server, of course). So that ColdFusion has access to all the resources possible, make sure that no other unnecessary applications, services, or daemons are running (many are installed and...