Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I was very disappointed to see the way this book turned out. I've been buying this book since the first edition and I have to say that each edition has gotten progressively worse! This monster is over 1500 pages - way too big to be a good reference. Some topics I consider "basic" such as UDFs aren't covered until the Advanced Book. I see this as another money making scheme - put some basic stuff in the advanced book, and make people buy both! Another point that really irritates me is that the tag and function references were pulled out of the book and moved to a CD. If I wanted online docs, I'd just use the ones that install with CF. Not that it really matters in this case as the references in Ben's book have always been almost a direct copy of the CF documentation. The book isn't all bad - there is some new material and good examples that still warrant consideration.
Rating: 
Summary: This book could teach a Monkey
Review: I've been using ColdFusion for years, and this book (starting with the earlier versions) has always been an indispensable part of my library. The first seven chapters are essential to train beginners, and the complete reference section at the end keeps me picking it up at least once a week. While you won't be using the whole book forever, the completeness of this book will cover you in any situation. Some people that I've trained even say that the book makes for good reading; while it is less bland than most reference books, I wouldn't say that. If you expect to use CF on a regular basis, you need this book or something like it. Add the Advanced version once you're familiar with CF. Unless there's something wrong with you, you can train yourself in CF with this book. If you have previous programming experience, you'll breeze it.
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate ColdFusion Book!
Review: I've been using his books for a while and I can say without hesitation that they are the best and most complete ColdFusion books available. Although it is long, there are plenty of examples to keep one busy and learning. It is about 500 pages bigger than the last edition (ColdFusion 4). Great intro to Dreamweaver and Flash integration. Ben Forta writes great books. I recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: The only book you need for ColdFusion
Review: If you are ready to get down and into programming in ColdFusion, this book is a must to have. Ben Forta is a respected ColdFusion guru who really knows what he is talking about. This book covers more aspects of ColdFusion no other book can compare. If you are looking for having only ONE book to own on ColdFusion, don't miss this one!
Rating:
Summary: A must have
Review: If you are serious about ColdFusion... get this book. Ben Forta is the man. I was blown away by 4... now 5 has 500 pages more and up-to-date programming... including programming methodologies. What a great reference and tool. I read mine every day.
Rating: 
Summary: A reader from VA
Review: If you want to learn and to be able to code ColdFusion fast, then this book might NOT be the best choice to start. Be prepared, it will take a very long time to digest all those 1500 pages! The writing style and the topics it covers are super! But... it is too thick! (Not all yet, there is another volume 2 for the more advanced CF stuff.) By the time you reach a half of this book (about 700+ pages), you may not remember much what covers at the beginning, and you probably may not be ready for any CF application work. What made me not to give this book a perfect 5-star because the book doesn't teach what I was looking for: 1. The use of JavaScript together with CF code for common functions such as validations or cursor control on the client site. 2. Some common CSS styles in CF templates. This would save CF developers a lot time in coding and testing. 3. The use of any of the ColdFusion development methodologies such as 'Fusebox', 'CFObjects', 'Black Box', or 'Switch Box',...
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of info, but not as good as older editions
Review: If you want to learn Cold Fusion this book indeed has lots of info. But compared to the older editions such as the Second Edition and Third Edition it lacks easy to understand language. The Second Edition was a great book and it explained a lot of fuctions and tags very well. Then the 3rd edition came along and it was not as clear. Now this 4th edition is missing lots of important details. Such as appendix A and B - They list the tags and functions but lack any indepth description other than a short one line remark. The older editions had great references that not only showed the tags/functions but had examples of the return codes if any. I would recommend looking at a different book if your learning. If you know Cold Fusion then this book has all the data you need to figure it out. But I would hat to learn from it for the first time!
Rating:
Summary: Required reading and reference for beginners
Review: The ultimate reference for beginners and intermediates alike. This is the book that starts it all. One can literally read from the beginning, follow the examples, and be writing ColdFusion in no time!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic for the begginer
Review: This book is a must for anyone starting out in the world of ColdFusion. I attempted learning ColdFusion with just the online documentation, with limited success. I have a good feeling as my competance grows, this book with grow with me, it has lots of things for lots of people with varying degrees of knowlege of CF.
Rating:
Summary: This Book is a must!!!!
Review: This book is a must for every Cold Fusion Developer. As with the previous versions of this book, the chapters were easy to navigate and the updates for Cold Fusion 5 made the transition from Cold Fusion 4 to version 5 easier to understand. If you develop in Cold Fusion it's time to update your Cold Fusion "Bible."
| 
