Making the world a better place with ColdFusion, Web Startup, and Software
Happy New Year!
The past few weeks I’ve been thinking about how I’d like to continue to build in 2010.
Whether you are on the business side of technology, or the implementation side, there are some common elements to all projects no matter the viewpoint.
Great software systems:
Make users great. Make your users awesome at what they do [...]
Once you’re past why someone would develop a new program in ColdFusion, you find a rich community of developers, examples, libraries and frameworks.
I’ve been playing around with the ColdBox Framework for ColdFusion for a few months.
What lead me to ColdBox was a period of discovering and playing around with the discoveries I made with ColdFusion 9 and it’s killer Hibernate ORM integration.
I could no longer program, ever again until ColdFusion 9 came out.. it made for a slower fall on new projects. I decided to dust off the old exploration cap and started looking at what was new and developing in the ColdFusion world.
I received this funny comic and it got me thinking…..
I have often wondered how a relationship between specialist (Web, designer, programmer, etc.,) can sometimes turn into the customer believing they understand everything better than the specialist, and how to do it.
This is when phrases like:
“Couldn’t you just..”
“All you have to do..”
“It should be pretty simple..”
“Can’t we make it really simple on the screen? Why would that be more work to do it all behind the scenes?”
become more, and more common.
Problem? I don’t know.
I build a Web application when I don’t want to:
- be supporting a thousand environments each with their own quirks. Specifically, viruses, trojans, software interfering, and making it work the same everywhere.
- worry about applying upgrades and taking lots of calls
Crafting software is like.. building a house.
You can try building it without a blueprint or plans or an architect or qualified tradespeople and it will almost always cost you much more and you will have constant issues.
Second, just because you can..
One thing I’ve found myself doing more and more in ColdFusion is using it for it’s integration powers to parse data, or do batch performing tasks. With it’s Java underbelly, ColdFusion does most things great, and if you want even more performance, tie into the Java layer!
I come from the group of people who pursue the dream that computers and technology should make people’s lives easier. That’s why ruthless automation is at the center of most startups, or businesses that are growing. Keep people dealing with people — what they do best, and let your system handle the details for you!
Someone asked what tools are usable for software development. Having juggled so many details for so many years, it’s interesting to take a look and see what tools we use and why.
There are many parts to a conceptual design. Depending on which part you focus on a variety of tools are out there.
As with most computer things, Capturing it is easy, filing it away so you can find it later is critical. You won’t use all of these tools 100% of the time, but they all need to flow to one central spot.
It’s simple. Building a product with less time developing the product, and more time building the business around the product (marketing, etc.,), the greater chance it will have of actually succeeding.
I recently read that a product is 80% marketing and 20% actual product. That probably would explain why garbage can succeed and great software can fail.
The truth is as developers, startup entrepreneurs, it’s critical to know how to sell and market. Without learning the ability to have the conversation to sell, there may not be much of a reason to start building anything.
Someone asked the question and I realized that’s my job title I didn’t know was my job title all these years!
—
If a person can build a shed without a blueprint, it doesn’t mean they can, or should build a house without a blueprint.
Architects see what you need now, what you mean when you [...]