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My last session of day 1 for CFUnited 2008 was BlazeDS & LCDS for ColdFusion 8 presented by Tom Jordahl.

Follow this link for the connect recording.

I went into this session with a basic understanding that BlazeDS and LiveCycle Data Services [LCDS] are both tools that can be used to allow Flex to communicate with a ColdFusion backend.

I took a *lot* of notes during this session…
Since the presentation is available as a recorded connect session (linked above), I don’t think I need to put all of my notes online.
What follows are high level notes on what was covered.

Tom explained the history of the product currently known as LifeCycle Data Services (or LCDS).
He went on to explain the origins of the BlazeDS product.
What are the differences?
LCDS is: RPC, Messaging, Data Management, Flash Remoting
BlazeDS is: RPC, Messaging, Flash Remoting [NO Data Management]
Tom gave very detailed explanations for each of those terms and what they mean in the context of Data Services.

Tom went on to demo a simple Chat app built with Flex, with a CF backend.
He also demoed a simple data entry app, then he showed a more complex version of the same app with conflict handling, then an even more complex example with a pretty slick conflict handler.

This session was everything I wanted and more. I know have a much better understanding of what the differences between these 2 products are, and I have tangible examples of how these products can be used to make better applications.

Great job, Tom!