I had a really eloquent version of this post all worked out, but for some reason it choked when I submitted it, so this will be a less eloquent, abbreviated version.
Apologies that I’ve been in a cave lately. I’ve had the typical end-of-the-year project pileup to dig out from under, but in the course of working feverishly on some of these projects, I’ve taken the opportunity to take a much closer look at some design patterns, specifically in my case DAOs and how to use them better and more effectively.
I’ve been using DAOs in Mach-II projects for quite some time now, and although it’s been working great I realized I’ve been using them a bit prescriptively without *really* digging down deep and understanding all the surrounding issues, gotchas, and possibilities. So I’ve been reading, researching, and reading some more over the past few weeks and I’m starting to have some revelatory insights on some things.
The purpose of this post isn’t to share any insights–they’re far too half-baked at this point, but you better believe I’ll be sharing in the very near future. I’ll be thinking out loud and talking to myself a lot over the coming weeks, so please don’t be alarmed. I’m not insane, I’m just obsessed. š I do think it’s appropriate for me to make a few general comments at this point, largely brought on by the introspective season we’re in.
First, always be challenging yourself. I’m at the point now with a lot of more advanced OO concepts that I feel like I’m at least starting to “know what I don’t know,” and it’s really inspiring me to go nuts with learning this stuff. I’ve already looked back and stuff I’ve written over the last year and seen how much better I could have done things had I known then what I know now.
Second, I’m a bit surprised at the lack of comprehensive CF-specific code samples and literature about OOP and design patterns. It’s starting to emerge on some really great blogs (I’ll post links later–it’s late and I’m beat), but I’m going to do what I can in the coming year to contribute to this area, which I feel is pretty lacking. Since I have a Java background I’ve been getting a lot out of reading the Java materials, but if we as CFers are going to take our craft to the next level and bring others along with us (kicking and screaming if necessary!), then I think we need our own set of knowledge and literature.
Finally, I’m in the process of rebuilding the Dallas/Fort Worth ColdFusion User Group web site, and I’m going to apply as many of these concepts as I can to this project. For the purposes of the site a lot of it may be overkill, but these sorts of projects are perfect for applying theories I may not have put into practice yet. Once I get the site in a better state of completion I’ll share the code so others can learn from it (or rip it to shreds as the case may be!).
Happy Holidays CFers, and if you haven’t made the commitment to start doing OOP yet, make 2005 the year in which you do it. Seriously. Not only is it a necessity from a career standpoint, it will make your development life easier and more fun, I guarantee it.