3 ms·

Very surprised that ColdFusion isn't on this list. Say what you want about it, but remember this... You know how all you React, VueJS and frontend developers ju

Very surprised that ColdFusion isn't on this list. Say what you want about it, but remember this... You know how all you React, VueJS and frontend developers just LOOOOOVE components... Yeah... ColdFusion had that first in what was called "Custom Tags". Heck... It had alot of features that you find today in almost every other language, but it is dying a SLOOOOOOOOW death.

codingdave 7y ago
You are correct that ColdFusion pioneered some modern features, but the author had a specific definition of influence, and states: "Before we start, a quick primer on finding influence. Just knowing that X was the first language with feature Z doesn’t mean that X actually influenced Z.", and then goes on to state that influence only counts if it exists in citations of papers or documentation. You can absolutely go to town arguing whether or not their definition of influence makes sense, though.
InfiniteRand 7y ago
It's questionable (although certainly possible) whether ColdFusion's custom tags inspired custom tags in other languages. There were a lot of other elements in the air at the time, such as server side include syntax, that made the idea of incorporating programming logic into markup a logic next step. And then from there it isn't too far to get to custom tags, of course, it's hard to retrospectively estimate the amount of brain effort to leap between concepts, so maybe my assessment is way off, but this is where finding direct documentary links between how technology developed can be helpful.
WorldMaker 7y ago
ColdFusion had much more limited exposure to the general world than say PHP. Also, arguably and IMNSHO, ColdFusion was quite bad at a lot of its own features. Custom Tags specifically as the given example, were barely more than duct tape over SSI (Server-Side Includes) and never really had a "proper" Component model or DOM for most (if not all, again IMNSHO) of its history. (CF is a language on my list of hopes to never see again.)

codingdave 7y ago

You are correct that ColdFusion pioneered some modern features, but the author had a specific definition of influence, and states: "Before we start, a quick primer on finding influence. Just knowing that X was the first language with feature Z doesn’t mean that X actually influenced Z.", and then goes on to state that influence only counts if it exists in citations of papers or documentation. You can absolutely go to town arguing whether or not their definition of influence makes sense, though.

InfiniteRand 7y ago

It's questionable (although certainly possible) whether ColdFusion's custom tags inspired custom tags in other languages. There were a lot of other elements in the air at the time, such as server side include syntax, that made the idea of incorporating programming logic into markup a logic next step. And then from there it isn't too far to get to custom tags, of course, it's hard to retrospectively estimate the amount of brain effort to leap between concepts, so maybe my assessment is way off, but this is where finding direct documentary links between how technology developed can be helpful.

WorldMaker 7y ago

ColdFusion had much more limited exposure to the general world than say PHP. Also, arguably and IMNSHO, ColdFusion was quite bad at a lot of its own features. Custom Tags specifically as the given example, were barely more than duct tape over SSI (Server-Side Includes) and never really had a "proper" Component model or DOM for most (if not all, again IMNSHO) of its history. (CF is a language on my list of hopes to never see again.)