ColdFusion Powered

I’m enjoying a recent resurgence in framework bound projects.  Frameworks can save loads of unnecessary work.  Fusebox for ColdFusion wires together pieces of the application with a pretty simple xml format.  Among many other benefits, I can go back and read these xml files and see how the application flows at a glance.  My favorite side effect of this xml format is that it discourages developers (myself included) from assembling applications that use “clever” code to get from point “A” to point “B”.

Fusebox 5.5 introduces a new “noxml” option that was a bit scary at first.  After a little bit of use I’m starting to warm up to the idea.  The noxml format still encourages following a standardized format of organizing display code, actions, and data code.  The implicit definition of fuse actions is not as hard to follow as I would have guessed.  Additionally there is a major benefit that I was not expecting, have a look:

Which circuit do I want? Aarg!

Compared with the noxml implicit CFC circuits:

Much better, I can find muh codez!

I haven’t had to work with someone else’s noxml Fusebox project yet.  That will be the true test.

A former employer would frequently refer to code as “working” or “not working”.  Most frequently I found my assignments were to maintain code on the gray line between those: mostly working but completely illegible.  I fear I may have left that employer with a heap of difficult to maintain code due to a lack of common programming convention, background, and no defined rules to follow.  Simply put I couldn’t read his style and he could not read mine.

Please, for the good of all, get off the cowboy coding wagon and USE A FRAMEWORK!  Any framework will do really, just pick one.  I think common frame of reference is a major step in the evolution from software alchemist to software engineer.