ColdFusion 5 is a great product, so much so that I've dedicated six of my last seven columns to introducing and analyzing its new features and technologies. ColdFusion 5 is mature, fast, reliable, and robust, and with its release Macromedia has demonstrated a definite commitment to CF and the former Allaire community. And the community acknowledges this.

How do I know this? I spend a lot of time interacting with developers; between e-mails, meetings, trade-shows, and CFUGs, I have personally spoken to several thousand Cold-Fusion developers so far this year (and that's all before DevConf). What has hit me is the change in the questions I'm asked and the tones they're asked in. Sure, I still get asked very detailed usage questions all the time - that's not changing, nor would I want it to. What is changing is the higher-level questions and comments. I'm hearing far less concern about whether or not ColdFusion has a future, and far more interest in how ColdFusion can be part of the next wave of technologies and opportunities. I'm not asked as often to defend ColdFusion against competitors, and I am asked far more often how ColdFusion can play a role alongside other products.

The single most interesting question, however, has to be: "What else should I be learning?" I've been asked this question for years now, but the tone and context has changed. That question used to be: "I'm scared that ColdFusion will die and I need a backup plan"; now it's: "What should I concentrate on to become a better ColdFusion developer writing better ColdFusion code?" Same question, very different connotation.

As I'm being asked this very regularly now, I decided to share my list with you.

Master Databases
I don't even remember the last time I saw a CF app that didn't use a database in one form or another. As for the last time I saw an app with a well-designed database, well, I'm not sure I remember that one either.

And no, knowing how to write SQL statements, even good SQL statements, is not enough. I've seen way too many great apps die an ugly death because their underlying databases were a mess.

You need to understand relational databases (both the rules as well as when to break them) to know what your database can (and should) do, to master the more obscure SQL statements and capabilities, and to learn how to optimize and fine-tune your databases regularly. (See my column "Take Your Database Out of Retirement," CFDJ, Vol. 1, issue 3).

Gaining solid database skills is about the most important investment you can make as a ColdFusion developer.

Say Hello to Java
It's no secret. We announced it at last year's conference, and many of us have written and talked about it since then - the future ColdFusion will be built on top of Java. That's a good thing. Jeremy Allaire listed some of the benefits of this new ColdFusion at last year's conference (and you'll hear more about it this year), so I won't repeat them here. You'll have access to all the benefits that the Java community has to offer, coupled with the simplicity and ease-of-use of ColdFusion - it doesn't get much better than that.

So will you have to learn Java? Nope. Not at all. You'll create CFM files, use <CFQUERY> and <CFSET>, write custom tags - do all the things you do now. The fact that Java is running things under the hood is transparent and irrelevant.

I've previously written about using ColdFusion in conjunction with other technologies so I won't go into that now (see "When Not to Use ColdFusion," Vol. 2, issue 3, and "Tiers, Not Tears," Vol. 3, issue 8). There are lots of ways to extend ColdFusion - custom tags and user-defined functions are great for encapsulating reusable CFML code, but to leverage other systems and technologies you need to use extensions that go beyond CFML. There are several choices:

• COM: Objects may be written in many languages including C/C++, Visual Basic, and Delphi
• CORBA
• Java

In other words, brush up on Java basics. Learn what all those J acronyms mean, write some code to experience what's involved, understand what beans are and how they're used, and look at the available Java libraries to see what they can do - the more time spent understanding the world of Java the better. The exercise will pay off, even if you have no intention of becoming a Java programmer.

XML
I won't explain what XML is (or what it isn't). That has been overdone more times than I care to count. Frankly, and at the risk of upsetting some purists, I think XML is terribly overhyped - the way I see it, it's the ultimate data import/ export engine, like CSV files on steroids.

XML is not that exciting. But XML is going to facilitate some very exciting things. Web services, distributed processing, intelligent server-to-server communication, seamless data sharing, and that's just the start of it.

ColdFusion doesn't have built-in support for XML processing yet, but there are plenty of third-party options that you can play with. When you start playing, you may even find uses for XML right now (although for most of us, the real fun is still in the not-so-distant future).

And Then...
So far I've listed server-side technologies, as these are the ones that impact CF development the most. But don't ignore the client-side; basic HTML will take you only so far, you should also pay attention to:

• Client-side scripting (JavaScript primarily)
• CSS
• DHTML
• Flash (with ActionScript)

Conclusion
ColdFusion is middleware - the glue that binds all the bits and pieces that make up an application. To write good CF code, to be a great CF developer, to be able to take CF as far as it can go - you need more than just CF. If you were to ask me where to invest your precious time I'd tell you to master databases, experiment with Java, and become familiar with XML. Cold-Fusion has a bright future, and armed with all this extra knowledge you'll not just be along for the ride, you'll be right at the front of the line.