When I decided to run another contest, I had to say I was a bit worried. The participation in the last few contests had been a bit low. I was surprised when a good 10 entries came in for the current contest.

So first and foremost - let me thank everyone who participated. I know it is scary to have your code out there in front of everyone, especially when you know they are going to be critiquing you.

I was a bit surprised by this contest:

  • First off - the design skills of these beginners blew me away. That was definitely surprising and really nice to see.
  • The lack of proper use of Application.cfm/cfc was truly a surprising thing. I certainly don't mean to put you guys down, but I was honestly surprised. I'd love some feedback (from anyone) about if they feel that the proper use of Application.cfc/cfm is something that is maybe not taught well? Not covered enough in the docs? Etc.
  • As I expected, and as I see in intermediate/advanced level programmers, I saw too many people forget the VAR scope. I know I tend to preach on about that, but I'm taking this as a sign I need to keep it up. ;)
  • Two entries made darn good use of ColdFusion's Flash based charts. I keep forgetting how darn nice this feature is. I know that for Flash Forms, I've told people to just get over it and learn Flex, but the Flash Charts I think definitely stand well on their own.

So with that in mind, here are the entries. I'd like to hear some thoughts on who impressed you the most. Help me pick the winner! The good news is that I've been able to scrounge up a few more gifts (including one big surprise), so I will be able to reward more than one entry.

Entry 10
Entry 9
Entry 8
Entry 7
Entry 6
Entry 5
Entry 4
Entry 3
Entry 2
Entry 1