CFML vs ColdFusion
ColdFusion is often used to refer to ColdFusion itself and CFML. Even so, the two are not the same and the practice of doing so is frowned upon by the more knowledgeable people. CFML stands for ColdFusion Markup Language, which is a coding language used to write scripts for ColdFusion. In turn, ColdFusion is actually the platform or the framework where CFML scripts are executed in. It is similar to the relationship between HTML and a web browser like IE, Firefox, or Safari.
Just like in the example where you will write HTML code and it is then run in or interpreted by a web browser, CFML code is run in ColdFusion. ColdFusion is then responsible for decoding what each line of code means and then translating it into something that your browser will understand. So if you use ColdFusion to identify CFML, you may give the impression that you pointing out something in the application rather than in your code.
And just like with the example, CFML and ColdFusion are not exclusive to each other even though one may think so. ColdFusion is able to interpret a number of other languages that are used for the same purpose, which includes Actionscript and some Javascript-like languages. On the other hand, there are also a number of platforms that are able to read an interpret CFML; Railo, BlueDragon, and IgniteFusion to name a few. Thus it does not necessarily follow that you use CFML if you are on ColdFusion or that you have ColdFusion if you write code in CFML. And it would eliminate some confusion if you identify both the platform and the language that you are using.
The matter between using CFML and ColdFusion is just a matter of semantics and most people would probably let you slide if you do interchange them once in a while. But if you are a newbie or even an experienced coder asking for help, it pays to know your terminologies. You will be taken more seriously, especially in online forums where the people would not really know you.
Summary:
- Coldfusion is the platform while CFML is the coding language
- CFML code runs in Coldfusion
- CFML is not exclusive to Coldfusion and vice versa