ColdFusion 10 released today: maybe you've heard, for better or worse

Note: This blog post is from 2012. Some content may be outdated--though not necessarily. Same with links and subsequent comments from myself or others. Corrections are welcome, in the comments. And I may revise the content as necessary.

And if you HAVE heard, you may well have heard from people who (as is often the case) are raising concerns about something they do or don't like, or do or don't see (that they may have expected). I'd like to address a couple of those points briefly, along with sharing the general announcement.

For more, see all the goodness at the coldfusion.com web site. (And yes, if you didn't know it, that's a nice easy-to-use domain name that redirects to the main Adobe CF page.) There you'll find lots of content about what's new, including videos on various pages (some of which include yours truly).

What's new? Lots more than you may think

As always, the "what's new" pages may seem rather meager to some. You may come away either thinking there are only a dozen new features (even if looking forward to it) or wondering why there's not "more" to the release (especially if you're someone disinclined to upgrade). Of course, Adobe is highlighting there what they think may be most compelling to the most people (and to motivate upgrades/purchases.)

But I'll note again that there are over 200 new changes or improvements, some little, some big. I documented those that I'd found after working with the prerelease for some months, in an entry I did back in March:

Charlie Arehart's Ultimate List of 200+ New #ColdFusion 10 Features

You may also want to check out my "Hidden Gems in CF10" talk, available online in PDF form. The slides have all the detail you will need, with links to where to find out still more. I need to update my "ultimate list" with many things I added for that talk. Also, the "hidden gems" talk will soon be offered on the upcoming Adobe CF Developer week in June 2012 (which, yes, will be recorded. I'll post a link when it's done.)

No single release notes document for CF10

I've not yet updated that blog entry per the final release, most notably because I can't as yet find any "Release Notes" for the final release.

The link to "CF10 release notes" currently offered on the CF release notes page (listing all releases) currently goes ultimately to a page that links to the "what's new" section of the CF Dev Guide, which is not really the same as the traditional release notes.

For instance, in CF 9.0.1 there was a 79-page release notes PDF, and even in 8.0.1 there was a 21-page PDF. There was also a 200+ page true "release notes" PDF for the CF10 prerelease. I hope some similar document for CF10 will be offered somewhere soon, but until then do check out the "what's new" sections of the "Developing CF10 Applications" and "CF 10 Language Reference". I've raised this concern about a release notes doc to Adobe, and will hope to update this when I have new info.

(In fact, when I first posted this, the "release notes" link I mention above went only to a single brief "known features" page, but since then they did change to going to the page I show about that does offer a few links, including both the known isssues and the link to the "what's new" section of the Developing Apps guide. Still no single "release notes" PDF, though, as in the past.)

What's Enterprise only?

Moving on to more important things (for most), as in each release there will always be consternation with regard to what was released for the Standard Edition and what's held back for the Enterprise (or free Developer) edition. You can find that outlined in a couple of docs on the site. But I have created another entry that tries to save you the trouble: What's new in #ColdFusion 10 that's only in Enterprise? or restricted in Standard?.

Any licensing concerns?

And yes, there are some licensing concerns. Those, too, deserve their own post. More to come later. (Some matters are still being sorted out in terms of folks understanding what they're reading, and whether they're coming to the correct conclusions.) Until I do, check out Tim Cunningham's blog post on the topic, though note that he, too, had to adjust what he'd written as new info came out.

Ah, and as a further update, the CF team have blogged about licensing. I'll not likely bother with an entry then.

I hear we won't be able to buy CF9 anymore

(Adding this point as an update since I first posted this entry.) There was considerable confusion around this, as well. What it is is that Adobe can no longer CF9 with Verity included, as of the end of May. They are pulling that release "off the shelf", yes, and you won't be able to even download the free Trial or Developer editions including Verity. But they are going to replace that with a CF9 offering without Verity, as a 9.0.2 release. More at this blog entry from the CF team.

Related to that, if you may find that you want to run the Verity to Solr conversion, but don't find the tool in CF10, note that the Adobe team have blogged about an available downloadable solution.

Where to keep an eye out for new info on CF10, created by the community

One other update to this entry since I originally posted it: while you can and should check out the Adobe resources I listed above, and my "ultimate list of new features", I'll note that of course many are now (and recently,and will be) posting their own blog entries on what's new, etc.

You can try to keep up with them on twitter, various blog aggregators, etc. But I'll say the best place to keep an eye out is Akbarsait's list of CF10 tutorials, where he basically aggregates all the CF10 documents and blog entries that he comes across. It's an awesome list that he also did for CF9 (and if you may be skipping from CF8 or earlier to CF10, check out that list for mroe on what was new in CF9).

He's not updated his CF10 page in a couple of weeks (as of today, as I write), but I'm sure he will soon be kicking into gear to gather up all the great new stuff coming out today and in coming days/weeks. I just want to make sure people seeing this post know to keep an eye on hist list. I see him as a "brother in arms", as a fellow-resource gatherer, as I have done in my CF resources sites: CF411.com (list of CF tools and resources), CF911.com (list of CF troubleshooting resources), and UGTV (list of CF user group presentations recordings).

Keep up the great work, Akbarsait!

All in all, CF10 adds lots of new features. Before you listen to any who assert "there's not much there", or "too much is held back for Enterprise only", or "the new licensing sucks", be sure to dig more closely and make an informed decision.

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