The life of a Web developer is never boring. Technology shifts so quickly that we refer to "Internet years" the same way we refer to "dog years." We're constantly bombarded with new buzzwords. It's a full-time job just keeping track of what they mean, much less knowing how to integrate them into development.

That's one reason I like ColdFusion so much - it allows me to focus on other technology issues by making the middleware so simple.

Developers are usually too busy performing their daily tasks to keep on top of new technologies; as a CTO, I don't have a real job, and can do that for you this month. What should CF developers learn about? If I knew for sure, I'd make a killing in the stock market - no one can predict what will succeed, and the merits of a technology don't necessarily matter, as anyone who bought a Betamax will tell you. Nevertheless, here are my guesses.

At the top of the buzzword food chain, XML will play many important roles for Web developers. CF already uses XML in several ways - from WDDX to encapsulate data to VTML within the CF Studio environment. XML will be used on the Web client, with XHTML, XSL formatting rules and raw XML data. It will also be used in mid-tier communications. Databases will output XML; object brokers will communicate using it.

On the client, expect Flash interfaces to increase in popularity. Most Web applications are an ugly thing to behold - disjointed parts such as HTML, CFML and JavaScript sewn together to build applications that would make Frankenstein proud. Programmers have shaken their collective heads in disgust for years, faced with screen-rendering technology that is a flashback to the '80s. For as many years, many potential panaceas have been held out to us, such as client-side Java and ActiveX. Flash, on the other hand, has already infiltrated the desktop, and doesn't suffer the performance problems of Java or the platform specificity of ActiveX. The programming environment is far less sophisticated, but it works, and provides the functionality we've been waiting for. Most CF developers have left Flash for the "artists," but it's time to rethink that if you're involved in any sort of Web interface design.

Spectra is the 800-pound gorilla - a brand-new product, but already a market leader in its niche. People are flocking to it for inexpensive content-management and workflow solutions. For veteran CF developers Spectra requires a lot of learning: how to write Spectra applications, how to deal with the issues found in any version 1.0 release, and which applications are suitable for Spectra and which aren't.

New kinds of Web-enabled devices will significantly change how we write applications. For years most Web developers have written applications so they'd work in the broadest range of browsers rather than write custom browser-specific code. These days will soon be over; devices will present so many different interface specifications that one size will no longer fit all.

Enterprise IT departments have long dreamed about managing all their network information in a single location. Directory servers make this a reality. They've been around for a while now, but with the hype around Active Directory, more people will implement some directory service, whether it's AD, NDS or native LDAP. The ins and outs of directories will become very important to developers. Using CF's Advanced Security engine to integrate with them will also be important.

Most CF applications are two-tier: database and application server. This works well for most Web applications, but not as well in a distributed environment, where different databases are spread across a vast area. Object broker systems like DCOM/MTS, CORBA and message queues allow the distribution of application logic across disparate systems, but increase the complexity of application development.

Java is already a technological success. Many of CF's competitors rely on it, and it's a standard component in server-side applications. The biggest arena for Java within CF applications may be integration with other systems. CF now allows you to use Java CFXs, which should transport easily between various platforms. Java is a logical choice for middleware components, interfaces to object brokers and other niches that aren't easily filled with CF alone. Servlets, while a nifty technology, don't offer much to the typical CF developer. It'll be interesting to see how Allaire's purchase of Live Software and the Ejipt component server platform will affect CF.

Many developers think that the rate of change of Web technologies has decreased now that the "browser war" is essentially over, but you're likely to see more real change now than ever before. The typical overworked Web developer may not have time to learn about all these changes, but you should certainly keep them on your radar. Start cracking the books and writing the code, and stay tuned to CFDJ to see how you can use these new toys!