Why we aren't using Microsoft ASP or Macromedia/Adobe ColdFusion
in CISC474 this year (Spring 2007)

By P. Conrad, CIS Dept., University of Delaware

Last Spring (2006), I included ASP and ColdFusion as "options" for students doing independent projects in CISC474. This semester, I have made a decision not to include any proprietary technologies (including ASP and ColdFusion) as topics in CISC474.

This is a simple pragmatic decision. It more to do with managing limited resources—mainly, time—than with any categorical objection to using proprietary technology in our courses, or any claim that the technologies we study are "better than" ASP or ColdFusion.

Simply put, I beleive you will have a better learning experience in this course if we focus our efforts.

The main problem I encountered with students doing projects with ASP and ColdFusion was that each required complex installs and downloads for the Windows platform, and in some cases, licensed software (a mix of software available under the MSDNAA in the case of Microsoft software, and limited term evaluation versions in the case of the Macromedia/Adobe software.) The additional burden consumed disproportionate amounts of my time and the students' time as compared to projects using open source software, much of which is already installed on the central Unix systems or on the EECIS ACAD systems.

Some students may indicate that they already have licensed versions of the software they need on their own PCs. However, this misses a few key points about my requirements for work done for CISC474. Briefly, these are:

  1. The work produced must be packaged in an archive (either a tarball or a zipfile) and available for download, and installed in an SVN repository.
  2. It should compile cleanly on some platform that both I and fellow CISC474 students have at our disposal.
  3. It must be code and documentation that a future CISC474 student could build on.

A project that is based on software on an individual PC doesn't meet those criteria.

Finally, even with limiting the scope to technologies that are freely available, the scope of preparation I have to do for this class is already huge. I have to pick and choose where to spend my time. I think the course is better served by concentrating our efforts on where we can get the most "bang for the buck".

Phill Conrad, 02/01/2007