CFML Engines

CFML (Cold Fusion Markup Language) is the name of the scripting language used by Adobe ColdFusion application server. ColdFusion originated as proprietary technology based on Web technology industry standards. However, it is becoming a less closed technology through the availability of competing products. In fact, one could now make the argument that ColdFusion is even less platform bound than say raw J2EE or .NET, simply because ColdFusion can run on top of any J2EE app server (Websphere, JRun, Tomcat, etc.) or .NET app server (New Atlanta), in theory, you could move a ColdFusion app unchanged from a J2EE app server to a .NET app server.

At the time of writing there are several CFML engines as alternative to Adobe Coldfusion 8, main of those are Railo and BlueDragon:

Adobe ColdFusion:

Adobe ColdFusion 8As the world's first commercially available web application server when it shipped in 1995, Adobe® ColdFusion dramatically simplified the process of dynamically publishing database content on web pages. In subsequent releases, the functionality of ColdFusion expanded beyond database connectivity to include a broad collection of out-of-the-box services for building all kinds of Internet applications. Now in the Adobe product family, ColdFusion continues to get better with every release. Backed by the innovative culture and R&D investment of an industry leader like Adobe, ColdFusion offers developers a unique way to solve today's Internet application challenges. And it does so with the same benefits of simplicity and productivity that have been a hallmark of ColdFusion since 1995. More informations about ColdFusion 8.

Railo:
RailoRailo is a ColdFusion Compiler for translating and executing of ColdFusion based websites. The Compiler translates the ColdFusion code into Java classes which can be executed on a Java server. Railo also comes with a runtime engine, which contains all necessary libraries for the translated code. Railo automatically detects wether to translate a ColdFusion file or when to use the runtime engine. You can compare Railo at best with JSP interfaces. JSP uses an other syntax but the main functionality is almost the same. Because Railo implements most of the JSP interfaces, it is highly compatible to JSP interfaces.  Visit the Railo website at http://www.railo.ch

BlueDragon:
BlueDragonThe BlueDragon Server family of Java-based servers (Server and Server JX) enables the stand-alone deployment of CFML. Both BlueDragon Server versions contain a built-in web server for development and testing, and each integrates with Microsoft IIS, Sun ONE/Netscape/iPlanet (JX only), and Apache web servers for deployment. BlueDragon offers flexibility for the deployment of ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML) pages with native technology platform integration on the operating system, web server and database of your choice. Visit the New Atlanta website at http://www.newatlanta.com


  For a comparison between CFML engines: http://www.cfml-engines.info/wiki/index.php/Comparison