# What is ColdFusion?

ColdFusion lets you create page-based Web applications using ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), the tag-based language you use to create server-side scripts that dynamically control data integration, application logic, and user interface generation. ColdFusion Web applications can contain XML, HTML, and other client technologies such as CSS and JavaScript.

ColdFusion application pages are different from static HTML pages in the following ways:

- They are saved and referenced with a specific file extension.
- The default ColdFusion file extension is CFM.
- They contain ColdFusion Markup Language.

## Editions of ColdFusion

There are three editions of ColdFusion: Enterprise, Professional, and Express. Using ColdFusion Enterprise and Professional editions and ColdFusion Studio, you can build Web applications that leverage existing technologies and business systems such as RDBMS, messaging servers, file repositories, directory servers, and distributed object middleware. ColdFusion Enterprise also offers advanced security features, load balancing, server fail-over, and visual cluster administration. Using ColdFusion Express, you can build Web applications that interact with desktop databases that support the ODBC standard.