For about a decade now, my
ColdFusion Web Application Construction Kit has been the de facto standard used by virtually all new ColdFusion developers, and by many who want to brush up their skills as ColdFusion is updated and enhanced. This book (and its
Advanced sequel) in many ways helped define ColdFusion, played an important role in the growth and evolution of the product. Over the years I've pulled in respected, trusted, and well-known ColdFusion developers to help with the books (most notably Ray Camden who assumed the role of co-lead author on the most recent CFWACK, and who will be doing so again for the next edition). I am genuinely humbled at how important these books have become to the ColdFusion universe, and honored by how many of you have relied on these books to do what you do.
But now I am faced with dilemma, and I'd love any and all input.
Here's the deal. The books have grown to be huge. We started with a single volume in ColdFusion 2 and 3 days, and quickly had to move to two volumes as of ColdFusion 4. And then two volumes were not enough, so we tried moving the language reference appendixes to a dedicated little third volume in ColdFusion 5 (a decision that did not go over well with most readers, although some loved it and have asked for that book to be revised and updated). For ColdFusion 6 and 7 we put the appendixes back into the book, and thus had no choice but to remove some lesser used chapters, and also made the very painful decision to make some chapters only available electronically (as PDFs on the accompanying CD).
But now things have gotten worse. The books are now several thousands pages combined (taking into account CFWACK and CFADV as well as all of the electronic chapters). And as I work on the Scorpio updates (Scorpio has so many new features that there are lots of updates, and even more new chapters needed) it is becoming apparent that page count is going to be a massive problem. Consider the following:
- We've reached about the maximum page count that can be physically bound as a single volume.
- Printing costs industry wide have gone up. I have fought hard against book price increases before, but I am being told that there is no way we can continue to print books of this size at the current price.
- And, as already stated, I really don't like electronic only chapters. I am fine with chapters being made available in print AND electronic, heck, I'd like for the whole book to be made available as an e-book on the CD. But I don't like electronic chapters in lieu of printed chapters.
So, what to do?
- We can eliminate the language reference appendixes (tags, functions, Verity language, etc.). Those ran about 400 pages in CFWCK7, and will be even bigger in the Scorpio edition. We can consider making those electronic chapters, or perhaps try a separate reference volume as we did back in CF5 days. My big concern with this one is that many users tell me that these are the most used parts of the books, and I regularly see copies with colored tabs and the like plastered all over these sections.
- We can make additional chapters electronic only. Deciding which ones to pick is painful and never what all users will want. Plus, as already said, I really don't like this idea.
- Some users have asked me to do away with the intro material, the first several hundred pages of CFWACK. And the truth is, for all but new readers, those are unnecessary. But, at the same time, I get several e-mails every single week from readers thanking me for just those chapters, in particular the ones that explain basic relational database theory and review SQL language basics.
- For ColdFusion 7 I had chatted with the publisher about breaking the books into three volumes. That would solve lots of problems by allowing us to create three thinner books with a greater total page count. But, three thinner books will cost readers more than two thicker books, and so I decided not to go with this idea because I felt guilty charging readers more money (especially those who only buy CFWACK who would now need to buy two books to replace it).
As you can see, we have no great ideas, just lots of imperfect options. So, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject. If any of these ideas make sense, tell me. If any are flat out wrong, tell me that too. And if you have other ideas we've not thought of, please share those as well.
Thanks!
The reference I use all the time, but the book itself I use rarely, unless I am exploring a topic that I previously haven't used before. It would be nice to have a handy reference separate from the book. And while the livedocs are nice, I prefer a manual - they are just more convenient, IMO.
And cost? Pfft. These are the tools of the trade. It's necessary. Mechanics don't complain about the price of tools, if they make their job easier, they suck it up and buy them.
I wonder if you could offer the above as a package with one price?
I think I like the idea of an introduction, intermediate and advance titles. Among the several advantages I see is that they may not need to be updated on exactly the same time schedule. I can imagine, based solely on my personal view point, that the introduction book can be written in less ColdFusion version specific language. I don't see the basics of ColdFusion having changed that much through the last several versions. I started with 4.5 and my <cfquery...>, <cfoutput...> and other basics have not changed much as I have learned my way through 5, 6.x, and 7.x versions.
If these titles where organized correctly I could see a new developer starting with the basic title, then over time getting the intermediate and advanced. Then from that point on, not needing to replace all three titles every version.
I would be willing to advocate the idea of just having two books. If you keep the nature of the Beginner and Advanced book, I think it makes only sense to me to have a companion CD to both volumes. These CDs would be the e-reference of the language references and additional supporting material.
I am also a proponent of O'Reilly Safari Books online. If the publisher offered a reduced cost of the PDF version, I would purchase that as well.
I tend to program on my laptop all of the place and copying and pasting code samples is typically better for me isntead of ready a hard copy.
PDFs provide a very easy way of bookmarking and searching for topics more than sticky little red tabs on a bound book.
Plus, I have a flash drive with PDFs on it for when I am offline.
So in short, I would suggest that you offer a hybrid on the book with an avenue for the eletronic only crowd.
Cheers,
Teddy
Is it permissible to consider printing this as a separate volume that is sold with the main book. I buy lots of 'books' for personal and professional reasons that consist of two or more volumes bundled together.
will cost a bit more but can serve as a great reference library
First of all thanks for all the work on these books over the years. I have a complete set dating back to when I started on CF 4.5. Alas, with my current job, all those books are useless to me now as I travel every week for my job. I've wished for a PDF version of the books for quite a while so that I could carry the info with me (obviously lugging both books to the airport every week is out of the question).
Just my 2c worth.
Dan
i've always thought a series of books, each very specialized and very focused, would do well. let's say i just want to brush up on cfscript. or regular expressions (in CF). or complex variables. or persistent variables (application/session/client).
this thought actually came about when the CFMX Bible was released. not knocking the book at all...i think it's a great book and i recommend it to folks to this day. one of the things i actually like about it is that it's very all-encompassing. very much so. but i've heard criticism that having so much in a single book made it overwhelming to some. i heard people say "if i to learn about _____, i'll buy a book about _____".
but as i heard that argument, it occurred to me that there wasn't a book just on _______.
so maybe there should be?
CFWACK is a great book. Whenever I talk to people about learning ColdFusion, I direct them to that book. I suspect others do as well. To that end, it makes sense that it remain an introductory book. Tag/function references as well as basics of HTTP and SQL are handy for this book.
As to "advanced" topics, I liken this to advanced university study. A Phd candidate doesn't just get "advanced" in their topic, they get specialized. It would be nice to have a books performance, security, graphing/reporting, xml, etc.
For myself, I always have a debate about the new books. I don't care pay for a rehash of the basics, but there are usually a few new features that I would like to read about as I try them out. If more, smaller, books were available for that I would really love it.
I am also a supporter of the "separating out the syntax reference" concept. . . which would then bring the grand total to four books. I no longer travel with my WACK friend. . . but would definitely welcome the opportunity to travel with a syntax reference volume.
Seriously, there is a shortage of CF books already and it can only help to have more IMO. My wife recently bought WACK but got frustrated by the introductory chapters because she already knew some of it. I think she really started reading at chapter 8. I would suggest making the introductory section in its own book and calling it "Intro to Web Applications" something with a potential broad range.
Let me start off by saying, these books changed my life and gave me the career that I have now...I am eternally grateful for stumbling across such a great opportunity that you provided to me; I owe my successes as a CF developer to you my friend :). (still gonna buy you dinner one of these days!).
Anyhow, I think you should split the book up into volumes. I don't see myself buying CFWACK because I am not the novice I used to be, but I do want a book on the new features found in scorpio..So perhaps release a novice/intermediate/advanced series? and maybe an even smaller volume for each release that talks about all the new features and stuff.
Just throwin ideas out there! Hey, if you need any help writing the next book...I'll have to check my schedule, but I am sure I can pencil you in :P
I suppose you could also sell them all individually too.
And yea, books are a part of the business. A reasonable price is a reasonable price. Do what's best, even if it's a bit more spendy.
Lastly, you might experiment with three versions: a box set, the three books sold separately and a download-only electronic versions.
Doug
My point is, I bought many of those books previously whereas now there are not so many books to buy. So, even if you made 4 books I am likely spending less than I used to on CF books. It is also important to keep in mind that if your books are two of the only options for printed material about CF, then more content is better and possibly specializing the books as well.
So, I agree with you on the PDFs, they never get read unless you specifically need something in there (and for all the effort that it probably takes to write this seems like a waste). I'd say, go 3 or 4 volumes if you want; get all the material in and if necessary supplement it online.
Also the language references seem a bit silly to me for the space since they are accessible online and you can get them straight from Adobe if you want them printed.
Sorry for the lengthy response.
If it were three volumes, I'd repurchase the advanced volume (hopefully focusing on some great new Scorpio features) and maybe the command reference.
I think the intro/beginner volume is essential, but I agree with Ian that it wouldn't need to be updated as often if it covered the basics and maybe some best practices.
Maybe the electronic command reference CD could be included with all volumes.
I'd personally like to see the 400 pages of reference materials extracted out into its own book.
For those of you that want 3 volumes (an intro, basic, and advanced), where would you want the referance appendixes? Intro? Basic? Or a seperate volume (which would then make it 4 volumes!)?
Keep the ideas coming. I'm going to have a chat with my publisher about this next week, and your feedback is invaluable.
--- Ben
I imagine this has an advantage that this could probably be the most frequently updated and repurchased volume. How one programs well is relatively slow to change, the tools one can use changes very quickly.
I could see that this could be an electronic and|or on-line and|or print volume.
I could see it in ALL volumes, but my tree hugger side cringes at this thought.
I could be wrong, but I'd bet there is at least some correlation between the people who do and do not like or use online/electronic documentation and their ages. I find myself constantly printing out pages from PDFs, and the printed books you got when you registered CFMX are full of those tabs and stickies you mentioned.
Here's another thought. What if you continue on with CFWACK and CFADV. Take the reference material out of these books and then publish a 3rd book that covers what's new in CF8 and also contains the reference material.
The removal of the reference section from the the first two books would let you cover new techniques in CF8 and by creating a third book would let long time developers find out about just the new stuff and serve as a reference. Of course you could always include the reference material on a CD with the new CFWACK book so that people wouldn't be forced to buy book 3 unless they wanted to.
In 1999, Allaire put out a "Quick Reference Guide to CFML" (not sure if this is what you were referencing earlier). It was 30 pages and spiral bound measuring 4" by 9".
Despite being well out of date, I still keep it in my laptop bag, primarily because it is such a small, handy reference. When I forget a simple matter of syntax and don't have an internet connection (it does happen), that can prove to be quite handy.
I find it *much* easier to search for something in a PDF than a book when I'm working on my laptop.
I'd go with the 3 volume, even 4 volume option. I've printed out some of the extra chapters on the CD to keep in my notebook. Yes, I probably killed a few trees by doing so, but I just like to have something in my hand when I read. Make it so that these 3/4 volumes could stand on their own if I only needed the reference section, or just the volume that covered the new stuff in Scorpio, whatever. Of course, I'm going to end up buying all of these volumes, in any case (especially when there are discoount deals to be found here and there).
And as others have pointed out, there's a definite void when it comes to books having to do with ColdFusion. I've posted a couple times on Tim O'Reilly when he posts his book market surveys and asked why doesn't O'Reilly have up-to-date books, and his response was along the line of "the statistics gathered show that there's a very low number of programmers using CF, so it's not worthwhile anymore to publish CF books anymore". The second edition of "Programming ColdFusion MX" only covers MX 6.1 and we know how much's changed since that version.
Oh, another suggestion - for those of us who don't use Access and have MySQL installed along with CF on our Mac laptops, how about a MySQL version of the ows database?
Regards,
Doug B.
I think you should sell CFWACK, the advanced book(s), and the reference as separate volumes.
You should put the reference on the CD that comes with the other books.
You should put some or all of the advanced content on the CD that comes with CFWACK.
You might put part or all of CFWACK on the CD with the advanced books.
Patrick
I am kinda recending my previos post. I like the idea of 4 books that Ben mentioned!! I think that would be the best and only way to go. Split off the reference material into it's own book and then do the beginner/intermediate/advanced.
Doug B.
I can say that WACK is a staple in my library and I always make my new programmers purchase a copy as well... 4 volumes is not a problem. Matter of fact, that would be great because then the company can purchase as programmers progress,
I personally hate having to tote around huge 1,000+ page books, so having the CFWACK broken out into smaller separate volumes would be well worth the extra money. (I also like the idea of having all of the content in hard-copy format.)
Once I've read the book, myself, I typically just crack open the reference unless I'm specifically searching for an example of something.... even then I would probably look online first. This way the reference manual would be readily accessible and not so big to lug around.
I think having the language reference separate is a good idea no what way you go. I tend not to use it in the books currently because it's too awkward to get at but a smaller book would be excellent.
I hate PDF only chapters. I know there is good stuff in the last books that I never looked at because it was on a CD.
I also like the idea of a beginner only book. I'm constantly trying to convince students that CF is a good alternative to PHP for them and having a smaller (ie. less scary) book to get started with would be a major boon.
First, thank you for soliciting our input!
I am strongly in the three-volume camp, but also for splitting up the reference material accordingly...CFML is now far too big to digest in a single gulp. No one book can serve both newbies and advanced developers. In the real world, you have different CF coders at different levels...nobody I know walks out of training and starts cranking CFCs. Have a "basic" edition WITH a reference section for all the basic CFML (I/O, formatting, list, loops, etc.) Advanced or Power CFML (CFCs, UDF, XML, objects, all else) with that refernce material, and a CF8 only edition with all the Scorpio stuff. (You could also have a fourth volume: all the reference material in one place.)
Make them different colors, different levels, and - although you did not ask for this part - it is time to split up the Certification as well. Do the whole thing like we do in ham radio: Technician class, General class, and Extra class. Give out dog yummies for advancing from level to level.
<cfset cents = "02">
Jeff
# Posted By Raymond Camden | 1/26/07 5:08 PM
But, do we suspect Ray has an ulterior motive. He just wants more covers he can see his name on!
There are more IDEs to develop ColdFusion than just DreamWeaver, Eclipse/CFEclipse for instance. Possibly these sections related to IDE-centric development could be compiled into a separate draft.
The getting started materials are pretty much duplicated in the CF Getting Started Experience provided in the CF Admin which I would think that anyone who purchases the book will have CF installed. However, in lieu of possibly removing the CF Getting Started Material I think including Installation and setup content would be important. I would also like to see more information on server tuning and maintenance.
I found it difficult to read and work through the book in print form and much easier to work with the .pdf chapters in a window next to Eclipse. This also allowed me to copy/paste sections of code that I had already worked through as I progressed through the example applications. I would favor an E-book as an alternative to purchasing the print version.
D.
And I don't know if you can do it, but a chapter on CFEclipse would be great in one of those books.
I agree with smaller more portable books.
Instead, I think I would prefer to a single CFADV "book" split into multiple volumes. Vol. 1 would cover one set of topics and Vol. 2 would cover another set of topics.
Thanks for *all* the ways in which you support us.
Joe Meboe
I favor ebooks and I like .chm files in particular. I use them on the Mac no problem.
I favor ebooks and I like .chm files in particular. I use them on the Mac no problem.
I favor ebooks and I like .chm files in particular. I use them on the Mac no problem.
I favor ebooks and I like .chm files in particular. I use them on the Mac no problem.
I favor ebooks and I like .chm files in particular. I use them on the Mac no problem.
I favor ebooks and I like .chm files in particular. I use them on the Mac no problem.
I favor ebooks and I like .chm files in particular. I use them on the Mac no problem.
Try cfquickdocs. It loads quicker than livedocs most of the time.
To Brian Rinaldi,
There were a ton of CF books published in the CF5 to CFMX era. The market was saturated and most of the books did not sell. I'm sure that many of the authors thank you for their support. But the support was not wide-spread enough, and publishers have no interest in updating those books. As an author of 3 of them, I've tried.
Unless Adobe can promise a huge upswing in CF Developers (which seems unlikely), I wouldn't expect another massive rush of CF books.
To Ben's Dilemma,
I never use a printed reference anymore. I'd drop those 400 or so pages. The idea of a 3 volume set is intriguing, but I doubt it'd be financially viable from the publisher's standpoint.
( Hey need another co-author / contributor? Let me know! ).
I have printed material dating back to CF 4.5 and I really loved the CFWACK and CFADV, that I purchased both for CFMX6 and CFMX7, as well as gave away a pair at my local CFUG. Anyways, these books like many other commentors here, gave me the career I have now and I thank you for the work you and the rest of the authors put into them. But now for the future ... I WOULD LOVE A SERIES OF BOOKS!!! Who cares about the $$$. If we know this language and it is what we do, I am sure we can afford it. It would be nice to have books that are easier to carry and easier to find what you are interested in (whether it be by level and/or subject). Knowing me I would still by all of them to have. Another option would be to sell them as PDFs as well at a lower cost. Which ever way you end up doing, I am sure they will be great.
Volume 1 - Basic of the basic
Volume 2 - Advanced
Volume 3 - Performance, Tweaking, clustering, etc.
Volume 4 - Complete Reference with small examples
Volume 5 - New in CF8 from the scratch.
If someone is new at CF s/he won't need vol 3 and 5. I'd buy 2,3,4,5 for instance.
I don't like PDFs like you, i wan them printed. Books aren't expensive themselves, and developers are used to buy lots of them. I share some books with my co-workers, so the most books the better.
To be honest I really hate the chapters that are only on CD. Sure, it's great to have the books on PDF, but only if they are already in the book. I would advocate a 4-5 volume set, and would be happy to pay for it. Books may be pricey, but considering I've basically built a career out of a few $50 books and almost no college training on the subject, it's well worth it. I also think the multi-volume set enables developers to only purchase the books that apply to them.
I think Alexei has broken it down pretty well - my slight twist would be:
Introduction to the language and programming concepts
Intermediate/Advanced development
Administration, performance tuning and and clustering
Language/function reference
What's new in CF8 (perhaps some overlap with the prior volumes, but assuming intermediate knowledge of CF 6/7)
I also absolutely love Steve's idea of complete electronic versions. We have two offices and some on site work - I love your books, but hate lugging them around.
So setting price aside, you should go to multiple volumes, LiveDocs is cool, but I want to hear Ben explaining it (and I'm sure all you readers will agree).
So better go to multiple books and explain it as you properly do and forget the electronic stuff etc...
All the best and thanks again and again for opening my eyes in the cfwwworld!!
I'll only try this message once. No Matter What :)
First let me thank you for the CFWACK and CFADV. Without a doubt these have set the standard for web development books and all other books are compared to these.
I like a series of books focusing on specific content. I am a huge fan of Flash Forms (I know that there are mixed feelings from the Adobe - Macromedia team on the extensive use by some of us) so I would love to have a book on exploiting the many capabilities of this technology. In addition, to Flash Forms I am a huge fan of CFCHART and want to learn more about CFR's but have not found a reference that goes into much detail on the subject.
Your concern about cost is admirable, but for people who are really serious about developing they will pay for books if they are helping them be heroes when they develop solutions (happy customers mean more support). One of my knock on Adobe technologies is the lack of books on how to use their products. In comparison to ASP.NET and JAVA, there is really a limited number of books out there for ColdFusion.
A series is what I'd like to see and would pay for without hesitation.
I really think there is a need for a printed reference. I guess being an oldie I like sometimes to have the book to hand when I am coding especially somthing I don't use every day. I also think that its best to have smaller books. I often recommend Sue Hove's book to new CF users. Sometimes beginners get confused by having so much in one volume. So go for 3 volumes I say. Even 4 might be better.
The only rider I would suggest is that it would be great to have an idex to all the books in one place so I can find something which is a bit obscure when I can't remembe where I saw it. How about a google search of the book?
I use the books everyday. I started CF a year ago with no programming skills whatsoever and now I'm starting to build CF Apps fulltime and I couldn't have done it without the books. From the perspective of a person who started at the beginning and has worked there way to a medium skill set and who is working towards an advanced skill level I suggest the following:
1. I use the tag and function references the most. I think it would be great to have them in a separate book.
2. I wouldn't get rid of the introductory chapters as they are very valuable for someone starting from scratch. (While I don't like chapters exclusively offered electronically, if any of them had to be I would suggest the intro chapters)
3. I personally don't care if the content comes in 2, 3, or 4 books. The cost isn't an issue if you are serious about learning CF. I think the content organization and usability should be more of a priority than cost.
Just to echo what everyone else here has said, I think that more volumes is definitely not a bad thing. Its much easier to hand a 200-page book to a new developer to learn the basics of CF than a 800-page reference manual that is thicker than most desktop dictionaries.
I learned a lot of new things in this edition of the advanced book, stuff I'd ever find in the online documentation, like utilizing the Apache POI API for creating and controlling MS Excel spreadsheets. I'd hate to think that I would be missing out on stuff like that because of the physical limitations of a book.
About publishing in electronic format... its great for me here at home, but the facility I work in won't allow us to bring in external media and I'd hate to have to print out 800 pages of reference to bring into work.
Thanks for all you do...
These books have been invaluable to me from my start back in 4.0 days all the way up to the present day. They are not only useful to me personally, but form the backbone of my CF training program for new hires. Even the MS in Comp Sci candidates that I get find them invaluable for understanding the practical issues in web development. Heck, I've even handed them to a .NET developer switching over to CF and they just -put him at ease- about CF.
I'm going to echo my thanks and recommendation for a 4-vol. boxed set: beginner, intermediate, advanced, and language reference, and I can guarantee you at least two sales :-)
/ejt
Divide it into as many volumes as you need. I use your books quite often and they are worth the price. Usability is the key here. Electronic versions are not convenient and using the web isn't either. There have been times I've been in the car with your book and a laptop figuring out a problem (as a passenger of course). The books always pay for themselves easily.
As some may guess, they're both a little "outside the box", but desperate times call for desperate measures. The first involves giving more credence to the docs, and the other is a proposal for a radically different kind of update for the WACKs.
It sounds like what's needed is a "getting started guide" to hold the portion devoted to beginners, and then a "reference manual" for the reference. The rest, one could argue, could go into separate "Developers Guide " and "Administrators Guide".
But, hey, then you'd just be replicating the documentation. Funny that. Each one of the above guides already exists in the documentation. Now, before anyone think I'm bashing Ben for writing the books, please don't. He knows that I am a co-author of the ColdFusion MX Bible [still on store shelves and often listed as the 2nd book folks recommend :-) ].
Still, I have long wondered why people even buy books when they have the CF documentation, available in both print and online, and they too approach the 2,000 page mark. I believe the doc set can be purchased for $50, which is amazing. And yet people don't seem to bother.
Now, I'm really not saying this to discourage people buying Ben's (or my) book. I'm really just writing in response to this stark reality Ben has put forth. (Indeed, so there's no confusion, I'll point out that I've also offered myself to Ben for the future books as the publisher of our Bible has not expressed interest in updating it. It's a tough market for CF books out there.)
I'd argue that the best solution would be to get the Adobe CF docs into bookstore instead. Heck, rebrand them as co-authored (or perhaps edited) by Ben so that they come up in searches people may do for "the Forta books".
Whether that idea holds any water or not (and really, that could be done in addition to any other ideas), I have some other thoughts, as naturally I've been thinking about this conundrum (of what best books to offer).
---
Assuming Ben and his co-authors choose to press on, here's something I'd propose: only write the new books as updates over the previous ones. In other words, write whatever would be new, whether it's a new chapter or a new way to do something in an old chapter, and reference back to the sections in the old book that this updates.
This has multiple benefits. First, those who already have the old books need only by the new ones. And I'm sure many who've bought the new ones before have lamented that they had to search around to find out "what's new" (regardless of any preface explaining new chapters, there may have been minor but functional changes in other chapters that weren't mentioned).
Perhaps as important, this would also help those who see only new code be able to better appreciate why folks may use "older techniques". It's understandable that a new book would drop an "old way", but that doesn't mean people won't still come across it in the wild. If they had to go back to the "last complete WACK" to see how that "old way" was described, it would help them know both the old and newer ways.
Again, I know these may seem a little out of left field. But Ben's used to that from me by now after 10 years of our working together on some things. I'd love to hear what others think, though I realize that perhaps others will comment (as I did) without having the time to read through all the preceding comments.
Thanks for all of your hard work. I've been using your materials for years.
-A-
We're happy to pay the money for one or all of your cherished works.
Will
Charlie, good feedback, much appreciated. And bummer that the Bible book won't be updated, but it's my good luck that you are now available :-)
Jeff (and others) re the lack of ColdFusion books, that's a very painful subject, and one I have tried to fight to no avail. The bottom line is that the publishers screwed up. Back in CF3 and CF4 days there was 1 and then 2 books (the second being the Sybex book, which, while I liked, was unfortunatley written for the same users as mine own books). In the CF5 era there were a couple of new additions, including Rob's excellent O'Reilly title (which was written for a very different audiance). And all of the books did very well (it was the height of the .com era, too, which helped, so lots of customers and readers, and a handful of titles). Then came CFMX, and every publisher under the sun jumped on to the CF bandwagon (New Riders, as an example, had never published a CF book previously and foolishly released at least 6 for CFMX!). That flood of books, coupled with a general decline in software sales post .com, means that none of the books then did well (including mine). So, all (but one) of the publishers backpeddled and decided to publish no more CF books. We went from too many to too few in one release, which is really silly. If there were a few more they would do well (I have the numbers to back that up). I've tried to push O'Reilly to update Rob's book, even though it competes somewhat, but to no avail. It's feast or famine it seems, and with the publishing industry in the dumps in general (lots of publishers have gone out of business, all publishers are cutting back on title counts, and are trying to only bet on what they see as the sure thing, something overly hyped or new and up-and-coming), CF is getting the raw end of the deal. Which hurts CF, I agree.
But, back to the issue at hand. Thanks of all of this feedback, and if you have anything to add please do so. I'll post the plans as soon as we've figured them out.
--- Ben
Sam Mitchell, and others, said it earlier in this thread:
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Reference
The FIFTH book... or maybe a separate series of books... would put it ALL together. It could have samples (a second stab at the Reality: series idea), ways to solve intermediate to complex problems (cookbook), but also teach things like good fundamental CF application architecture and design. It could possibly be a series of books, not just a single fifth book. I've always been a guy more interested in engineering, rather than just pure theory... ways to make things WORK. That's what I am getting at. Teach people how to become good CF developers, not just the syntax.
For me an "What's New, and how to use it, beginner/advanced" version would be the trigger to buy the book again.