1. Why Use ColdFusion?.- Is this book for you?.- How this book is organized.- Versions of ColdFusion.- ColdFusion 5.0.- 2. Setting Up a Development System.- Prerequisites.- The Plan.- 3. Counting Visitors To a Web Site.- The HTML way.- The visitor database structure.- Modifying the HTML.- The tag.- The Tag.- Viewing the Results.- Using .- Viewing visitor logs.- Formatting the output.- 4. Html For Coldfusion.- The tag.- Naming the title bar with.- The Paragraph tag .- The Line Break tag .- Headings and Subheadings .- Bold and Italics.- Inserting a picture .- Adding a link with .- The Feature.- The horizontal Rule tag.- Acquiring user input .- 5. Using SQL.- SQL's command set.- SQL data types.- CREATE TABLE.- INSERT.- SELECT.- DELETE.- UPDATE.- 6. Key Coldfusion Tags.- Running SQL with.- Processing with .- 7. Forms and Formatting.- ColdFusion's Forms .- Input control .- Validating Input with .- Font control and .- List controls with .- Many choices with .- 8. Looping and Branching.- Index Loops.- Conditional Loops.- Looping over a query.- Branching with .- Branching again with .- Branching again with .- 9. Email and the Internet.- Mail Functions.- Sending mail with .- Sending an email.- Failed email.- Sending emails to a group.- Getting mail with .- GetHeaderOnly.- GetAll.- Delete.- Manipulating web pages.- Getting web pages - .- Moving elsewhere .- 10. CF Tags - File Functions.- Reading with .- File actions with .- 11. Using Coldfusion Variables.- Query Variables.- Local Variables.- URL Variables.- Form Variables.- Server Variables.- CGI Environment variables.- Cookies.- Other Variables.- 12. Coldfusion Functions.- Check it is there with IsDefined.- Check for a file - FileExists.- Is that Dir there? DirectoryExists.- Path processing: GetFileFromPath.-More Paths: GetDirectoryFromPath.- Paths again: ExpandPath.- Work it out with Evaluate.- Think of a number: RandRange.- Rand.- Make it more random: Randomize.- How long is that string: Len.- String Manipulation Functions.- String Searching: FindNoCase.- Find it in a String: Find.- Cut that string apart: Mid.- Left a bit.- Right a bit.- Convert the number with Val.- Telling the time with Now.- DateFormat.- TimeFormat.- CreateDateTime.- DayOfWeek.- DayOfWeekAsString.- 13. Custom Tags.- Custom Tags.- Custom Tag Attributes.- Returning Values.- Application.cfm.- OnRequestEnd.cfm.- 14. Using Cookies to Track Users.- 15. Securing Web Pages.- User authentication.- 16. Scheduling Tasks.- Scheduling tasks.- 17. The Coldfusion Fast Web Site.- ShowMe button.- News.- Sitewatch.- Book Site.- Main Page.- Administration area.- Visitor Book.- 18. Additional Resources.- Manuals and CFDOCS.- ColdFusion Studio.- ColdFusion Developer Exchange.- ColdFusion Forums.- Final Words.

Essential ColdFusion fast gives the reader a working knowledge of ColdFusion and how to use it and how it integrates with other web-based technologies. Lots of working examples are included throughout, all of which are also available via a web-site that is powered by ColdFusion, which shows exactly how they work.
Matthew Norman has written a 'get started quick' guide to ColdFusion, in the style of the Essential series, describing the setting up of a development system. He talks about how to achieve this on a budget, using techniques that are applicable to large scale operations as well.
Anyone with a working knowledge of the internet, and who wants to learn more about what ColdFusion does and how they can start using it quickly, will find this book a real help.