ColdFusion 2025 Glossary
What people mean when they say these things
CFPM
ColdFusion Package Manager. The command-line tool for installing and managing ColdFusion features. Think of it like npm for ColdFusion—install only what you need, keep your attack surface small.
ColdFusion Administrator
The web-based control panel for your ColdFusion server. This is where you configure datasources, security settings, caching, and just about everything else. Protect it carefully—it has the keys to the kingdom.
JVM (Java Virtual Machine)
The runtime environment that actually executes your ColdFusion code. ColdFusion 2025 requires JDK 17 or later. Most performance tuning comes down to configuring this correctly.
Tomcat
The servlet container that runs ColdFusion. ColdFusion 2025 uses Tomcat 10.1, which brings Jakarta EE 10 support. You'll interact with it through server.xml and connector configurations.
Heap Memory
The portion of JVM memory where your application's objects live. Set it too small and you'll get OutOfMemory errors; set it too large and garbage collection pauses become painful. The sweet spot is usually 50-70% of available RAM.
Lockdown Guide
Adobe's official security hardening playbook for ColdFusion. Running through the Lockdown Guide should be your first step after any installation. It closes default vulnerabilities that attackers know about.
Web Server Connector
The bridge between your web server (Apache, IIS, nginx) and ColdFusion. It routes .cfm requests to ColdFusion while letting the web server handle static files. Getting this right is crucial for both performance and security.
Datasource
A named database connection configuration. Rather than putting connection strings in your code, you define datasources in the CF Administrator and reference them by name. This also gives you connection pooling for free.
Trusted Cache
A production optimization that tells ColdFusion to stop checking if template files have changed. Once enabled, ColdFusion assumes templates don't change between restarts—eliminating filesystem checks on every request.
CFM/CFC
The two main ColdFusion file types. CFM files are templates (pages), while CFC files are components (reusable objects with functions). Modern ColdFusion applications lean heavily on CFCs.
Session Management
How ColdFusion tracks users across requests. By default, session data lives in server memory, which creates challenges for clustered environments. For scale, externalize sessions to Redis or a database.
Performance Monitoring Toolset
The collection of tools for watching ColdFusion performance in real-time. FusionReactor is the gold standard, but SeeFusion and the built-in Server Monitor also work. You need at least one of these in production.
Security Baseline
The minimum security configuration every production ColdFusion server should have. This includes running the Lockdown Guide, restricting admin access, disabling unused services, and keeping everything patched.
JDBC Driver
The Java library that lets ColdFusion talk to your database. ColdFusion ships with drivers for common databases, but you should often update to the latest vendor drivers for security patches and performance improvements.
Garbage Collection (GC)
The JVM's automatic memory cleanup process. When GC runs, it can briefly pause your application. Tuning GC—usually by switching to G1GC and setting appropriate heap sizes—prevents those annoying pauses from affecting users.
Request Timeout
How long ColdFusion will let a request run before killing it. The default is often too generous. A runaway request that never times out can hold resources indefinitely—set reasonable limits based on what your application actually needs.
Containerization
Running ColdFusion inside Docker containers. This gives you consistent environments, easier deployments, and the ability to scale horizontally. ColdFusion 2025 works well with Docker and Kubernetes.
REST API
ColdFusion's built-in support for creating RESTful web services. You can expose CFC methods as REST endpoints, making it straightforward to build APIs that modern JavaScript frameworks can consume.
Scheduled Tasks
ColdFusion's built-in cron-like scheduler. Use it for recurring jobs like sending reports, cleaning up data, or checking external services. For anything critical, add monitoring to make sure tasks actually run.
PDF Generation (PDFG)
ColdFusion's document services for creating and manipulating PDFs. It can convert HTML to PDF, merge documents, add watermarks, and handle form fields. One of those features you don't need until you really need it.
Related Resources
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