2009
For those readers who didn't see my previous post regarding my conversation with Glen, Glen is a technical trainer who treated me to the usual "ColdFusion is dying" mantra we normally hear from other programmers.
The big question I had after that first encounter was why, as a trainer rather than a programmer, he had developed that opinion about ColdFusion. So when I ran into him again at the gym the other day, I asked him about that.
Turns out his belief that ColdFusion is dying is based on the job market for ColdFusion jobs. He told me he works/interacts with a dozen recruiting firms in the Washington D.C. area, firms looking to fill positions for government contractors like Lockheed, and that the number of ColdFusion positions compared to the number of positions programming in Java or Ruby is just so small. He added that a lot of the ColdFusion positions that did exist were senior positions where candidates were expected to know how create web services, work with Java, write object-oriented code, etc., making it hard for up-and-coming ColdFusion developers to find work.
I also found out that most of his training work involves training/teaching programmers OO-based languages over several weeks, so his perspective on programming trends isn't all that different from an actual programmer. Glen (who doesn't mind talking) went on to give me the standard advice given to modern-day programmers (the importance of having multiple programming language skill sets, the need to have a new job lined up before leaving your current one, etc.) before we parted company once again.
My thoughts? I don't doubt there are more jobs out there for languages like PHP, Ruby, and Java just as Glen said, but whenever I go out on websites to look for ColdFusion jobs, they're out there, and while many of them are senior-level positions, there are a few junior-level jobs to be had. Actually getting hired, however, made take some effort, as Michael Dinowitz noted in his recent blog post, "Are There Really ColdFusion Jobs?"
In the end, Glen's position on ColdFusion is nothing original: lack of marketshare is at the heart of every "ColdFusion is dying" argument we hear. But marketshare is only one metric, and it shouldn't be the main consideration when choosing a programming language.
The main consideration should be "does this technology allow me to build the web application I want?" And when that question is directed at ColdFusion, the answer is almost always "Yes."
Jul 14, 2009 at 12:50 AM As cool as ColdFusion is, and as awesome a CFer you might be, it doesn't do a dang bit of good when you're looking for a job and 99% of them are for PHP pros.
Sometimes I think I painted myself into a corner by specializing in ColdFusion, wasted a decade.
Jul 14, 2009 at 2:43 AM Yeah, but if you'd spent the last 10 years doing PHP you'd have only got half the work done. Plus you'd have a sore head from banging it against a brick wall all the time.
Jul 14, 2009 at 8:32 AM Don't get me wrong - I prefer CF to every other server language. But that's no consolation when you're trying to keep your house.
Jul 14, 2009 at 8:49 AM @Jules: I understand where you're coming from. Despite the market gains ColdFusion has made recently, there are still less CF jobs than PHP jobs, which does become a problem in a tight job market if CF is the only language you can claim experience in.
Have you had any luck marketing yourself as more of a web designer/UI expert? That's the area of expertise that came to mind when I visited your site (just now), especially when I saw that the UI wasn't in Flash.
Jul 14, 2009 at 8:19 PM I'm actually getting more work for SEO consultation which of course is server language independent. What I doing is telling people what I can deliver, rather than what I code in. And really, for the most part, they don't care. Unless its a marketing firm.
Aug 13, 2009 at 6:40 PM Hey Brian,
Sorry for the unrelated comment, but I couldn't find another way to contact you. I'm at CFUN this week if you want to meet up and say hi. Enjoy the rest of your sessions!
Jose