Summary

Application state is a complex topic and a complex problem with which to deal in web applications. It is one that web developers wrestle with in a big way. Understanding what makes it an issue, the ways to maintain session state, and the variables that we can use to manipulate sessions and to help track them gives us the upper hand.

We discussed in some detail the Web Application Framework in this chapter. We noted that it does the following things:

• Enables the use of applicationwide settings and functions

• Enables custom error handling throughout the application

• Provides for the integration of web server security

• Enables the use of variable scopes, including application, client, server, and session

We discussed the various variable scopes available to us through settings in the ColdFusion Administrator and within the Web Application Framework's Application.cfm template. We also discussed enabling applicationwide settings, such as session management or client management.

In the upcoming chapters, we're going to expand on this discussion and explore the use of custom error handling within a ColdFusion application, and later, the creation of applicationwide security.