<!--- Arrays (repeat up the hierarchy) --->
<cfdump var="#arrayNew(1).getClass().getName()#">
<cfdump var="#arrayNew(1).getClass().getSuperClass().getName()#">
<!--- Structures (repeat up the hierarchy) --->
<cfdump var="#structNew().getClass().getName()#">
<cfdump var="#structNew().getClass().getSuperClass().getName()#">

What became immediately apparent was that both were handled differently. In the case of a ColdFusion array, the parent class was the java.util.Vector, which seemed obvious. The Vector class implements a growable array of objects. Like an array, it contains components that can be accessed using an integer index. However, the size of a Vector can grow or shrink as needed to accommodate adding and removing items after the Vector has been created.

ColdFusion structures, however, are handled entirely differently, with the parent class being a coldfusion.runtime class. In fact, as we can see below, the code to handle a ColdFusion structure is entirely written for ColdFusion until the root class of java.lang.Object. Clearly ColdFusion does some complex wizardry to handle the complex nature of structues (associative arrays).

The class hierarchy for an Adobe ColdFusion array:

java.lang.Object
	java.util.AbstractCollection
		java.util.AbstractList
			java.util.Vector
				coldfusion.runtime.Array

The class hierarchy for an Adobe ColdFusion structure:

java.lang.Object
	coldfusion.util.CaseInsensitiveMap
		coldfusion.util.FastHashtable
			coldfusion.runtime.Struct

Being an inquisitive person, I applied the same code to Railo and BlueDragon, with equally interesting results.

The Java class hierarchy behind a Railo array:

java.lang.Object
	railo.runtime.type.ArrayImpl

The Java class hierarchy behind a Railo structure:

java.lang.Object
	railo.runtime.type.StructImpl

The Java class hierarchy behind a BlueDragon array:

java.lang.Object
	com.naryx.tagfusion.cfm.engine.cfData
		com.naryx.tagfusion.cfm.engine.cfJavaObjectData
			com.naryx.tagfusion.cfm.engine.cfArrayData
				com.naryx.tagfusion.cfm.engine.cfArrayListData

The Java class hierarchy behind a BlueDragon structure:

java.lang.Object
	com.naryx.tagfusion.cfm.engine.cfData
		com.naryx.tagfusion.cfm.engine.cfJavaObjectData
			com.naryx.tagfusion.cfm.engine.cfStructData

Adendum: Ben Nadel has a good little post on ColdFusion Data Types from Different Sources and How ColdFusion Sees Them.

You can read the full release here:

http://www.newatlanta.com/products/bluedragon/open_source/faq.cfm

Will Adobe follow suit with their ColdFusion server technology? They have done similar things with the BlazeDS, so it stands to reason that ColdFusion could follow the same route.

Terrence Ryan sees things differently, however, and has a good article here:

Yawn, BlueDragon Goes Open Source.

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 will run on top of a .NET app server (New Atlanta), or on top of any J2EE app server (Websphere, JRun, Tomcat, etc.) In theory, you could move a ColdFusion app unchanged from a J2EE app server to a .NET app server.

Currently, alternative server platforms generally support Coldfusion MX 6.1 functionality, with minor changes or feature enhancements.

I have listed some of the alternatives in order of maturity/populrity. However, I will leave it up to you to decide which one is the best and easiest to implement. Please tell me your experiences.

BlueDragon

The 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 to download the latest version of BlueDragon.

Railo

Railo 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

IgniteFusion

IgniteFusion is a ColdFusion compatible script engine that runs ColdFusion scripts. In addition to Coldfusion CFML compatibility IgniteFusion has functionality that extends Coldfusion. Although in Beta, it is approaching release.

Visit the IgniteFusion website at http://www.ignitefusion.com to download the scripting engine.