Rating: 
Summary: Better than official Macromedia Training
Review: I recently attended a three day Fast Track to ColdFusion MX workshop from a certified Macromedia trainer. Let me advise you to save the money and buy this book instead. It is a series of clearly written tutorials and makeover exercises that anyone with modest web experience can easily follow. And if you get hung up, the author is extremely prompt about answering questions via his web site. After you read this book, grab a copy of the CF-WACK (Forta, et. al) and you should be all set to begin developing for real. I created my first application based off of the tutorials in this book and was done in record time. I can't say enough positive things about this text.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect book for beginners and intermediate users
Review: I started reading this book at precisely the same time I began fooling around with ColdFusionMX.
The best thing about this book is that not only does the author tell you how to build workable applications in a simple manner, but explains "why" the application works the way it does. Too many books on the market seem to forget how important this is. This book brings you a greater understanding of ColdFusionMX through it's very thoughtful explanations throughout each chapter.ColdFusion can be intimidating when looked at in a basic, technical aspect, but the author does a great job of putting the reader at ease with a matter-of-fact, "non-techie" approach. I seriously looked at some of the code in the first couple sections and thought "it can't be this easy", but it really was simple to follow the book and create some dynamic pages after my first day of reading. Everything from understanding/using the ColdFusion Administrator to building an actual shopping cart is covered in this book. Mr. Moore doesn't get into some of the more advanced features of CFMX, but that doesn't seem to be the intent of the book. The focus appears to be getting you to understand ColdFusionMX and to build workable pages with it. This book does that extremely well.
Rating:
Summary: "The Second Coming"
Review: I wish I had this book when I first started learning ColdFusion!! I found Barry's way of explaining concepts so easy to understand that anyone attempting to learn ColdFusion would be silly not to get his book. After programming for only 2 years I was able to "fix" bad techniques that I picked up along the way. I had always felt Macromedia had a major gap for programmers trying to find out how to learn and understand techniques for programming in the ColdFusion language. Barry Moore's book achieved to fill this gap. When is his next book coming out??!
Also his website is really useful if you get stuck
Rating:
Summary: Don't be scared about going dynamic
Review: Many HTML developers or Dreamweaver users need to start creating database-driven websites and web applications; unfortunately for people without any programming background, the learning curve is step. Barry Moore clearly understands how to deliver a well-organized, succinct and enjoyable learning experience even to people totally new to the world of server-side developing
Rating: 
Summary: The way to learn ColdFusion MX
Review: My first MattReview, WooHoo... You are a developer and you have been working on HTML for years, now you are feeling the squeeze. Customers want more from you. They want shopping carts, they want to know who their customers are, they want to be able to show their catalogs and they don't want to have thousands of static pages. What do you do? You look at an application server. ColdFusion is a great choice if you are from the HTML tag based world. The 10 steps in the book are a good breakdown of the basics of the technology. Chapter 1 has a good explanation of the basics of what CFMX actually is and how it fits into your Web site with a set of simple pages that give you some idea of what can be done. From there, he covers how to use include files for code reuse between pages, setting and using variables, how to use SQL to connect to a database and to return data to the browser. Moore covers flow control - if, when and loop clauses - forms, updating inserting and deleting database records and using email with CFMX. In the last three chapters or steps, Moore covers what I need the most help with - the overall application framework, security and complex variables like lists, arrays and structures. This is the part where I turn the music down, open a can of coke and really dig in. What I personally like best in the book though, is his thorough explanation of how to use the CGI variables. I can never remember these and they are dang important to know. They are covered well in the book, but there is a more complete CF reference at the web site. My math teacher in high-school, Mr Faure, said that you need to get in and get your hands dirty to learn anything and you will be doing that here. Moore talks about Dreamweaver MX and ColdFusion Studio, but the entire book is set up for hand coding. "Well if it is all hand coding, why are you recommending it as a Dreamweaver guy?!" Simple. To be successful. Really successful. You HAVE to know the code you are generating. That holds true for HTML and it holds true for CFML, the language for ColdFusion MX. Once you know how to hand code, you know how to debug and you know how to create code for situations that aren't covered with prebuilt server behaviors and objects. What could use a little more work in the book is the first chapter. There are some larger looking code examples there. Even though they are really just exactly enough to show off the concept, there are a little daunting. Moore uses these examples well, but I don't think I would go into so much detail at the very beginning. Rather than showing the date format function (DateFormat()) simply, he takes the opportunity to show all the formats available. Small criticism... I would probably have one chapter to look at how DMX works to do some of the same things that you learn through hand coding in the book. One chapter at the end to tie it to DMX a little more, not to really go in depth, but to show how it all ties together. The Review... Overall review? I think I give it 7 out of 10 Matts... Recommended reading for intermediate CF developers and a must have for beginning CF developers. Well worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: Must read for HTML to CFMX migrations
Review: The author has done an outstanding job at providing what can be termed as somewhat dry content in a humorous and rich manner. The subject material is an excellent launching point for html coders to migrate their way into dynamic sites using ColdFusion MX and Access database's. This launching point provides a solid foundation for moving into more advanced areas of ColdFusion MX should you desire but allows you to build functional dynamic sites if you don't wish to move into the advanced areas. I highly recommend this book to people wanting to migrate from static HTML websites to dynamic CFML websites.
Rating:
Summary: As close to perfect an entry CF book as your going to find
Review: This book is limited in its scope; it only deals with the basics of ColdFusion. What's great is that it's limited in scope and deals only with the basics of ColdFusion. It takes the topic and does what I feel is a perfect job. There are no mistakes in the book and I looked for them.
If you have someone who needs to learn ColdFusion, this is the book they should start on.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have For The ColdFusion Newbie!
Review: This is a must have for anyone looking to move from static web design into dynamic web development with ColdFusion. I am not the fastest reader, but Barry's writing style made this book very easy to read and understand. Each of the book's 10 steps cover topics that logically "fit" together for a seamless transition from one step to the next. This book offers the best explaination of "#" sign usage and the ColdFusion application framework that I have seen to date. And Barry doesn't stop with just presenting the necessary information, he also provides invaluable tips along the way. I just wish this book had been around when I first started with ColdFusion!
Rating:
Summary: Battery cables for learning dynamic ColdFusion MX
Review: This is one excellent book that will super-charge your ColdFusion MX skills! I've learned more about building front-end web sites connected to back-end databases from this book in the shortest time than anywhere else. The author builds on everyday concepts that are truly useful in the real world. Each line of ColdFusion code is printed out and thoroughly explained. My own web site "graduated" from being simply a static site to a database-driven dynamic one in a month's time by applying the techniques I learned. This book is a "must have" if you're truly interested in seeing and learning about the power of ColdFusion MX.
Rating:
Summary: More than 10 excellent CF steps!
Review: Written clearly, and concisely, this reference book is a good option for entry-level ColdFusion developers. Taken from the angle of a developer looking to add dynamic content to a static web application, this provides a superb base reference. The structure of the book allows the reader to progress to advanced ColdFusion integration quite rapidly in an understandable manner. The book also encompasses SQL databases and user security issues. All in all, the book is enjoyable and I have found it well used in the day-to-day work environ.
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