Development Platforms and Application Frameworks
Adobe ColdFusion Development Framework
ColdFusion is an application server and software development framework used for the development of computer software in general, and dynamic web sites in particular. In this regard, ColdFusion is a similar product to Microsoft ASP.NET, JavaServer Pages or PHP. ColdFusion was the first amongst these technologies to provide the developer the capability of creating dynamic websites that were attached to a backend database.
Adobe Flash Platform
Flash Player is the backbone of the Flash Platform, supported by a layer of tools, servers, components,
patterns, and developer programs that provide the on-ramp for over a million designers and developers to build
rich content and applications.
Writing code for the Flash Platform is done through the ActionScript programming language. ActionScript 3.0 debuted with Adobe Flex 2.0 and its corresponding player, Flash Player 9. ActionScript 3.0 was a fundamental restructuring of the language, so much so that it uses an entirely different virtual machine. Flash Player 9 contains two virtual machines, AVM1 for code written in ActionScript 1.0 and 2.0, and AVM2 for content written in ActionScript 3.0. ActionScript 3.0 provides not only a significant enhancement in performance, but also a more robust programming model that lends itself to complex Rich Internet Application development.
Sun Java Platform
Java refers to a number of computer software products and specifications from Sun Microsystems that together provide a system for developing application software and deploying it in a cross-platform environment.
Writing in the Java programming language is the primary way to produce code that will be deployed as Java bytecode, though there are compilers available for other languages such as JavaScript, Python and Ruby, and a native Java scripting language called Groovy. Java syntax borrows heavily from C and C++ but it eliminates certain low-level constructs such as pointers and has a very simple memory model where every object is allocated on the heap and all variables of object types are references. Memory management is handled through integrated automatic garbage collection performed by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM).
Adobe Flex Development Framework
Flex is a highly productive, free open source framework for building and maintaining expressive web applications that deploy consistently on all major browsers, desktops, and operating systems. It provides a modern, standards-based language and programming model that supports common design patterns and includes an Eclipse™ based development environment; advanced data services; and a fast, enterprise-class client runtime based on ubiquitous Adobe Flash® Player software.
Fusebox Application Framework
Fusebox is the most popular framework for building ColdFusion and PHP web applications. "Fuseboxers" find that the framework releases them from much of the drudgery of writing applications and enables them to focus their efforts on creating great, customer-focused software.
PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor
PHP is a computer scripting language, originally designed for producing dynamic web pages. It is for server-side scripting, but can be used from a command line interface or in standalone graphical applications.