Editing ColdFusion Markup Language (section)

== Synopsis ==
In its simplest form, like many other web scripting languages, CFML augments standard [[HTML]] files with [[database]] commands, conditional [[Operator (programming)|operators]], high-level formatting [[function (computer science)|functions]], and other elements to produce [[web applications]].<ref>[http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/8/htmldocs/help.html?content=Tags_g-h_09.html Adobe ColdFusion 8 – About Internet applications and web application servers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513034624/http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/8/htmldocs/help.html?content=Tags_g-h_09.html |date=2012-05-13}}. Livedocs.adobe.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-17.</ref><ref>[http://openbd.org/manual Open BlueDragon Manual]. Openbd.org. Retrieved on 2013-09-17.</ref> CFML also includes many other constructs including ColdFusion Components (CFCs), CFML's version of [[Object-oriented programming|objects]], that allow separating business logic from presentation.

CFML can be written using either tags or [[CFScript]], which resembles [[JavaScript]] ([[ECMAScript]]).

The pages in a CFML [[Application software|application]] include the [[server-side]] CFML tags and functions in addition to HTML tags. Modern CFML applications also tend to have CFCs that are accessed by the CFML pages for executing business logic. When a [[web browser]] requests a page in a ColdFusion application, it is automatically pre-processed by the ColdFusion [[application server]].<ref>Smith, Michael [https://web.archive.org/web/20080701091733/http://www.fusionauthority.com/cfintro.cfm What is ColdFusion?] fusionauthority.com</ref>

CFML can also be used to generate other languages, aside from HTML, such as [[XML]], [[JavaScript]], [[CSS]], and so on.

Despite the name, CFML is ''not'' a markup language. It is also not [[SGML]], since certain core CFML features prevent it from complying.

The CFML engine is configured in such a way that certain file extensions on the server (.cfm, .cfc) are handed off to the CFML engine for processing. In the case of the Java-based engines this is accomplished via [[Java servlet]]s. The CFML engine only processes CFML tags and functions; it returns text outside of CFML tags and functions to the [[web server]] unchanged.<ref>[http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/6.1/htmldocs/element4.htm Tags] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080324005624/http://livedocs.adobe.com/coldfusion/6.1/htmldocs/element4.htm |date=March 24, 2008}}</ref>