Last year's Readers' Choice Awards greatly exceeded our expectations. Over 13,000 votes were cast, many more than we imagined. What it proved to us here at CFDJ, and what it demonstrated to the industry as a whole, was the maturity of the ColdFusion industry. It also showed your devotion, as developers, to the products and companies that help you the most.

The products you use daily and that cut down on the time, energy, and money it takes to develop the world's leading Web applications were rewarded with awards - picked by you and presented by us. Those that didn't strike your fancy - well, they didn't fare quite as well. To view the results and our coverage of last year's awards, visit the wrap-up at www.sys-con.com/coldfusion/article.cfm?id=274.

That was last year's Readers' Choice Awards; this year they're back - bigger and better. We have more categories, more products, and more companies represented in the voting, which began on September 1. I'm proud to say that this increase mirrors the continued growth and acceptance of the ColdFusion industry. The awards and the magazine have matured along with the product and the market. Reaction to ColdFusion 5 has been quite good, not just by users of ColdFusion but by the mainstream computer press as well. Check out Macromedia's CF 5 Web site
            . at www.macromedia. com/software/coldfusion/ and the Reviews section if you want to feel good about your choice of Web application servers.

The 2001 Readers' Choice Awards will be running for the next two months on our Web site. Categories for this year's awards include Best Book, Best Consulting Service, Best Custom Tag, Best Database Tool, Best Design Service, Best E-Business Software, Best Education and Training, Best Testing Tool, Best Web Development Tool, Best Web Hosting, Best Web Site, Best Web Application, and Most Innovative CF Application. To vote in this year's awards - visit www.sys-con.com/coldfusion/readerschoice2001. Make your voice heard...this is your chance to show what you think.

This Month's Issue
This month's focus is on XML - and the articles we have lined up will not disappoint. Kelly Brown has written about creating a custom XML editor in ColdFusion. You'll learn the basics of XML and how to edit XML data files in CF. Christian Schneider has a piece on using the XML language with SVG - Scalable Vector Graphics. SVGs are a new technology, a new graphics format you can dynamically generate using CF to make charts and diagrams. Continuing with our XML coverage - Ronald West talks about the XML-RPC. In Part 1 of a multipart feature he lays the foundation for creating an application that ties together Java, ColdFusion, XML, and PHP. It's a must-read. Hal Helms shows the Fusebox approach to XML, and Randy Drisgill and Jason Montilla discuss how to display ColdFusion-selected information in a Flash movie. And, as always, guru-extraordinaire Ben Forta contributes his thoughts.

It's a great issue - and if you haven't voted yet - go online and do it today!