Rating: 
Summary: Lagging behind each time more
Review: Ben Forta was the reference in the good old days. But then he started to have the same book contents under different titles (as some smart reviewers here also noticed), to enlist several different people to co-author his books and to be away from software development itself. Not surprisingly he has now many books published. Unfortunately quantity and quality do not come often together. His books are no longer the reference. Many better ones are available now. Smart readers will see that Ben Forta has somehow hit a wall. This one book is a particular example of a book that will keep readers far away from the powerful and much faster roads to productive and excellent CF development that some other books just simply have. Beginners readers may take longer to realize that. Until after they discover how much time and money they have lost.
Rating: 
Summary: Reviews again
Review: Ben is good, well very good but this is just an update from all the other CF books he has written. There are others, go to book stores and read the book before ordering this way you can have all the information right up front and not have to second guess, from someone else's opinions who may be totally NEW-BE to CF and not know that much. Do NOT base your purchase on the opinions here, why, cause half the authors right the opinions, or some pinhead who doesnt know jack about the product.
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Summary: the most charismatic technical writer ever borned
Review: Even if you don't want to learn Cold Fusion you cannot avoid it. I prefer reading that book at the bed instead of a novel.
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Summary: You Must Start Here
Review: I am a Flash Designer with a moderate amount of ASP experience. I bought 3 CF books to begin my ColdFusion quest. This one *BY FAR* was the best written, easiest to understand, and most comprehensive! With 1100 pages of learning and 400 pages of reference, this one is already tattered, highlighted, and dog-eared more than any book in my library. I have to disagree with the other reviewer stating that some content should have been left to other books like basic SQL, etc... this information is invaluable if you are like me and are treading into new territory with CF. With the code examples clearly displayed and explained, you don't need to sit in front of your computer while reading this book. You walk away understanding it without the need to load the accompanying files. From someone who has read over 30 computer-based books in the last 18 months, I highly recommend this book to anyone that needs/wants a fast start into the world of ColdFusion MX.
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Summary: The ROCK to build your web applications on.
Review: I am a self taught web designer and as such I demand books that teach me the how, why, in and out of cutting edge technologies.
I knew that I needed to build dynamic websites with speed, flexablity and ease in order to stay competitive in todays tech market. I did not know where to start until I found this book.
This book solidified what I knew and taught me what I did not know about the very basic things advanced users take for granted. There is no greater person to learn from than Ben Forta. He explains things very well and makes it fun to learn CFML coding. Yes, I will agree that this book is not for the advanced user, but that is why they have published an advanced book. I am writing this review for the average designer or html coder who wants to learn how to make their websites come to life with dynamic and rich content. Don't be scared to take a chance on learning a new technology. ColdFusion is light years ahead of ASP and PHP so you will be pleased at how much easier it is to use. In closing: THIS IS THE BOOK TO BUY! Thank you to Ben Forta to writing such a great book and thank to Allaire & Macromedia for making the best web products in the world!
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Summary: ColdFusion MX
Review: I am an absolute beginner in the world of programing. This book is proving to be a great aid in my endeavors to learn CF. I find Mr. Forta's explanations very easy to understand. Our school's webpage needs some major renovation. Through ColdFusion we are hoping to spread the maintenance duties around instead of waiting for the IT to find time to update the site. I believe that our students will be able to learn CF just reading this book and working projects during class. However, be careful. My book is missing Chapter 30 "Working With Stored Procedures". I hope that doesn't happen to you.
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Summary: Perhaps the best computer related book I have ever read.
Review: I am relatively new to the world of ColdFusion. In my research before purchasing a ColdFusion book I was overwhelmed at how many people recommended this book to start with. While it's size may be a tad bit scary at first, you quickly find yourself immersed in an engaging and even entertaining read. The book doesn't drive readers away with computer lingo that only the nerdiest of the nerds can understand, but rather uses common day to day phrases that even newcomers to the web development arena can understand. It has excellent real world examples given for almost all the instructions presented. It tells you how to do it, but also tells you why you should do it a certain way as opposed to another way. I also appreciated that Ben didn't get technical for the sake of being technical. I have read many computer books where you feel the author is just trying to impress people with his knowledge. Ben presents the material in more of a flavor of someone that is truly interested in seeing you progress in knowledge and be successful in your endeavors to learn ColdFusion. I also appreciated the coverage of SQL in the book. I had very little knowledge of SQL before I started reading it. I was surprised by a couple of the reviewers wishing the SQL had been left out. I feel this would have been a tremendous mistake. Having a basic fundamental knowledge of SQL is only going to help a CF developer write quality apps. The book does not get bogged down in SQL, it just presents the basics and gives examples of how to do the most common things in SQL. I feel it was a necessary couple of chapters that made things more clear later on down the line. I also just recently purchased the Advanced version of this book and am looking forward to reading it. I highly recommend this book for ColdFusion beginners and for those that dabble in CF from time to time. If your already proficient with CF, you probably will want to go with his advanced book. No complaints from this reader whatsoever. For those that don't know, I'll add this... this book is the best selling ColdFusion book of all time. That says something about its quality.
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Summary: Excellent even for a beginner
Review: I am teaching myself how to use Coldfusion from scratch, and this book has been very helpful.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: I baugth this book and I had very little experience and knowledge of coldfusion. This book is great, it explains everything in a good order and it led me to develop online banking and complex extranet applications. You'll need others, but this one is the perfect starting point and a good guide for all levels.
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Summary: More is not More
Review: I bought this book based on the comments by previous reviewers. And though it might serve as a reference for me in the future, I was rather disappointed. Perhaps my expectations were also shaped by programming books I have used and loved in the past, but I thought this one was way to verbose - straying FAR off topic (for example: the "real" definition of the internet, basic Dreamweaver MX - which felt way too much like a proprietary plug for Macromedia), and taking much more space than necessary to explain and demonstrate ColdFusion tags. In short, I found this book too little for too much: too little information for the price and difficulty of finding it. In this case, less would definitely have been more. For the beginning web developer, this might be a great book, but if you've already got a reasonably good handle on web app development, then I will have to disagree with a previous reviewer and say that perhaps another book would be a better use of your time and money.
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