Mark Cyzyk

I have a confession to make: I wasn't a computer science major in college - I was a philosophy major. While the two disciplines have much in common (conceptual acrobatics, a high degree of abstraction, logical and analytical rigor, obtuse and convoluted texts), I'm finding now that, as a Web applications developer, a study of the basic tenets of computer science can help me create more sophisticated applications. Case in point: the study of data structures and algorithms. I recently had a programming problem to solve, one that lent itself perfectly to a solution offered in any data structures textbook. My problem was this: I was working with librarians on our campus on a project, part of which entailed the creation of a subject terms list. Once compiled, this hierarchica... (more)

Creating Subforms with CFGRID

You're familiar with the rudiments of ColdFusion development. You know how to set and read local, session and client variables. You have input, updated and deleted data from a database. You've created drill-down "Master/Detail" templates by passing values in a URL string and you've created dynamic, data-driven SELECT boxes. Your forms look spiffy and everything is working fine, just like... (more)

Creating Subforms

In the June issue of ColdFusion Developer's Journal (Vol. 1, issue 3), I hinted there might be a way to create subforms using inline frames. This article shows how - using a combination of inline frames, JavaScript, WDDX and, of course, CF. Right now, inline frames are supported only by Internet Explorer, but because they're part of the official HTML specification it's hoped that the othe... (more)

Everything You Need to Know about XML

What an excellent little book! In a scant 96 pages, Eckstein and Casabianca have managed to present everything you need to know to get up and running with XML. After the obligatory review of what XML is and why it's needed, as well as definitions of some of the key concepts of XML technology, the authors launch into a concise, though comprehensive, discussion of DTD (Document Type Definit... (more)

Programming ColdFusion

As the author points out in the introduction: "[Y]ou'll find this book loaded with strategies, hints, tips, and tricks that you can apply to your own projects. I've tried to include all the useful ColdFusion tidbits that I've discovered over the years so that you can benefit from my experience." And Brooks-Bilson, one of the ColdFusion community's most senior developers and a frequent co... (more)