Coldfusion Foundations

ColdFusion Foundations Certificate

64 hours

Description

ColdFusion Introduction

ColdFusion is a powerful server-side scripting language that allows users to interact with databases to produce dynamic pages. ColdFusion is a tag-based language and very easy to learn to use but also a powerful programming environment. At the end of this class, students will be able to create pages that display a requested set of records from the database. Students will be able to create forms that allow users to add, edit or delete records from the database. Students will be able to create data-driven applications using application, client and session variables. A good understanding of web page creation is useful but not necessary for this class. Students will need access to ColdFusion Server. A free evaluation version is available.

ColdFusion Advanced

This class is a continuation of the Introduction to ColdFusion class. At the end of this class, students will be able to improve the processing of their data-driven web sites by creating user-defined functions and reusable components. Students will be able to include dynamic graphs from their database in their web applications. Students will be able to send email from their ColdFusion applications. Students will be able to create applications that gracefully recover from errors and will be able to package their data as XML for sending to other applications. Students will need access to ColdFusion Server. A free evaluation version is available.

ColdFusion Introduction

Objectives

Students will be able to install and administer the ColdFusion Server.
Students will be able to define a datasource for ColdFusion and write SQL statements to query a database.
Students will be able to define variables, arrays and lists and display the content of the variables. Students will also be able to write ColdFusion script to use , and statements.
Students will be able to query a datasource to retrieve a set of records from the database and display them on a web page.
Students will be able to define forms for collecting data from the user and validate the data that the user submits.
Students will be able to collect information from a form and use it to update, add or delete records from a database.
Students will be able to identify different techniques for building ColdFusion applications.
Students will use the application.cfm file to set options for how ColdFusion responds to the user.
Students will create Session variables, Client variables and Cookies to track user data.
Students will be able to build a ColdFusion application using what they have learned in this class.

ColdFusion Advanced

Students will be able to identify various strategies for securing their ColdFusion applications.
Students will be able to build user-defined functions, reusable components and custom tags.
Students will be able to ColdFusion scripts to display records in groups, use to push part of page to the user before the complete page is ready, work with cached queries and caching page output.
Students will be able to create advanced SQL queries, create queries of queries and use the tag to build effective queries.
Students will be able to use and to handle errors in ColdFusion.
Students will be able to read and write to files and schedule events at the server.
Students will be able to write ColdFusion scripts and perform searches using Regular Expressions.
Students will be able to work with XML data using ColdFusion.
Students will explore interacting with email, creating printable documents and creating non-html content.
Students will be able to ColdFusion to perform HTTP and FTP requests.

Outlines

ColdFusion Introduction

Lesson 1: Getting Started

Read Chapters 1, 3 and 4

Lesson 2: Database Basics

Read Chapters 2, 5 and 6

Lesson 3: ColdFusion Basics

Read Chapters 7, 8 and 9

Lesson 4: Creating Data-Driven Pages

Read Chapter 10

Lesson 5: ColdFusion Forms

Read Chapters 11, 12 and 24 (Note: Chapter 24 is a PDF file on the CD that came with your book.)

Lesson 6: Using Forms to Add or Change Data

Read Chapters 13 and 14

Lesson 7: Building Applications and Development Methodologies

Chapters 15, 36 and 37

Lesson 8: Working with Application Variables

Read Chapter 16

Lesson 9: Client Variables, Session Variables and Cookies

Read Chapter 18

Lesson 10: Putting it All Together

Review Chapters 1 - 18, 24, 36, 37

ColdFusion Advanced

Lesson 1: Securing an Application

MX: Read Intro Chapter 18 and Advanced Chapters 6 - 9 (Focus on Chapters 18 and 6. Read the rest for additional information if you are interested)
MX7: Read Intro Chapter 21 and Advanced Chapters 7 - 10 (Focus on Chapters 21 and 7. Read the rest for additional information if you are interested)

Lesson 2: Building Reusable Components

Read Intro Chapters 22 and 23 and Advanced Chapters 18 and 19.

Lesson 3: Improving Usability and Performance

Read Intro Chapters 24 and 25

Lesson 4: Advanced Queries

Read Intro Chapters 30 and 31 (Note: These are on the CD)

Lesson 5: Error Handling

Read Intro Chapter 32 (Note: This chapter is on the CD)

Lesson 6: Interacting with the Operating System and Scheduling Events

Read Intro Chapters 34 and 36 (Note: These chapters are on the CD).

Lesson 7: ColdFusion Scripting and Regular Expressions

Read Advanced Chapters 12 and 13

Lesson 8: XML

Read Advanced Chapters 14 - 16.

Lesson 9: Miscellaneous Topics

Read Intro Chapters 16, 27 and 33 (on the CD)

Lesson 10: Using Server-side HTTP and FTP

Read Advanced Chapter 21

Course Materials

ColdFusion Introduction

Choose the book that matches your version of ColdFusion

Macromedia ColdFusion MX Web Application Construction Kit

Author Ben Forta and Nate Weiss
Publisher Macromedia Press
ISBN 0-321-12516-9

Macromedia ColdFusion MX 7 Web Application Construction Kit

Authors: Ben Forta, Raymond Camden, Leon Chalnick, Angela C. Buraglia
Publisher: Macromedia Press
ISBN: 0321223675

ColdFusion Advanced

You will need two books. Choose the two that are for your version of ColdFusion

Macromedia ColdFusion MX Web Application Construction Kit

Author Ben Forta and Nate Weiss
Publisher Macromedia Press
ISBN 0-321-12516-9

and

Advanced Macromedia ColdFusion Application Development

Author Ben Forta and Nate Weiss
Publisher Macromedia Press
ISBN 0-321-12710-2

Macromedia ColdFusion MX 7 Web Application Construction Kit

Authors: Ben Forta, Raymond Camden, Leon Chalnick, Angela C. Buraglia
Publisher: Macromedia Press
ISBN: 0321223675

Advanced Macromedia ColdFusion MX 7 Application Development

Authors: Ben Forta, Sarge Sargent
Publisher: Macromedia Press
ISBN: 0321292693

Computer Requirements

Most of our classes are designed to work well with slower connections.

Recommended System Requirements:
•        You can be a PC user to take our courses. You'll need a Pentium II with Internet connection and a web browser (Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher).
•        Basic dial-up Internet access is adequate but a high speed connection is recommended.
•        Depending upon the course taken by you, you can either download the free trail versions of the software from the respective sites (the links of which are displayed on our WebPages of that particular course) or you can purchase the software from the respective software sites.
166 MHz processor or® Pentium®•        Intel greater
•        64 MB RAM minimum, 128 MB recommended
•        Minimum video resolution of 800x600, with 16-bit color
•        Internet Connection
•        Connection speed of 40 Kbps minimum, 56 Kbps recommended
•     95, 98, 2000, NT or XP® Windows
•        Valid Email address
•        Supported browser versions: Internet Explorer (5x - 6x), Netscape Communicator 4.7 - 7.2
•        Allow cookies

Instructor Bio

Jenny Watt has an MSEd in Instructional Design for Online Learning. Jenny is a certified online instructor and has been developing and teaching online courses for 5 years. She has over 7 years experience in teaching at the college level. Her training background includes 15 years of corporate training for major companies in the Houston area.