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This might sound DUMB Do we have some tool availa...
# cfml-general
v
This might sound DUMB Do we have some tool available to convert the Coldfusion code to DotNet
We are migrating the Coldfusion site to DotNet But clients don't want to spend all the time to rewrite it word by word (code by code)
Any tool (paid as well) available which reads the CF code and generates the subsequent DotNet code
a
They expect you to port for free?! Why are they porting if they don't want to pay
I don't know how your CF site is written but the architecture of a .NET app is likely to be completely different.
v
Its written in FW1 (MVC framework)
a
If they want a .NET site they will have to pay for it 🙂
Maybe in 6 months they will want it as a PHP site - all for free of course
In terms of your actual question, then something like ChatGPT will probably be able to take a stab at it - but it will only be a starting point. There will still be plenty of work to do.
a
What is the reason to migrate it?
v
Client want to move out of Coldfusion and get everything in Microsoft bucket with DotNet and Azure etc
a
That's their choice - but they should not expect it all to be converted for free! You as a developer sell time so why would you do it for free?
v
Certainly not to be free I estimated it for 6 months with 3 developers
They thought there should be some tool in the market which will convert the CF code to Dotnet
a
Yeah they can do but doing it through any tool, i don't think it's possible. It should be a new application
a
I love it when clients tell you how long something should take without having a clue. 😕
Why would there be a tool? Who would make it? If you want to move off a 'propriety' tech like Adobe then you wouldn't move to Microsoft as you're still locked into a vendor - Microsoft.
There is a tool that will convert to BoxLang... 🙂
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BoxLang isn't .Net but it's the only tool I know of to convert CFML. Railo originally was designed to convert to PHP I believe.
p
Sounds like a non-technical company making a random decision and wanting it for free; tell them nope there is a cost associated with the process and its likely steep with the amount of time to convert.
v
The clients think there should be some tool in the market or AI should be able to help to migrate the code (file by file) from CF to DotNet
a
as I said above ChatGPT does know about CFML and .Net so will be able to do some work for you, but it will be a starting point and you will be responsible for any bugs it creates and the client will expect you to fix those bugs.
Do you know if you'll be using C# or F#?
Both are strongly typed language and CFML is a loosely typed one so an AI is going to have to infer all the datatypes (and interfaces). With function arguments if you have added the datatypes then that will help, but a lot of it is not defined in CFML as you don't need to.
Expect your client already know all this though as they seem to think it's a simple thing!
e
You are in luck, there are wonderful tools to completely convert any bit of code to another bit of code, its called a programmer.
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v
That "tools" are not affordable by my client
p
What is their budget and how large is this app?
a
Your client should evaluate the cost of switching technology before deciding to do it. They can't just say "we're using 'x' now" and then be surprised it takes money and time.
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They've basically said, that bus service we run, well we now uses helicopters, just use AI to convert it in a week.
s
Just let them know that AI tools can indeed convert specific portions of code from one language to another, but they are not yet sophisticated enough to develop entire applications from scratch or convert entire applications. Even when you give these tools good prompts they will output code that works but is not necessarily good code in terms of architecture or efficiency. I would suggest a hybrid approach where your developers utilize a tool like github copilot to aid them with converting the specific business logic from the existing application into to the new language/architecture. I have seen effective use of these tools improve the productivity of a development team in these types of situations. It works best when the developer is familiar with both the language you are converting from and the language they are converting too.
If they don’t believe you, tell them to pick a novel they really like that hasn’t been made into a movie. Then go to chat gpt and ask it to generate an original movie screenplay based on that novel. Then take that screenplay exactly as the AI generated it and try to sell it to movie studios and see what happens.
m
Oy. OK. So let's start with "why". Clearly they do not have C# developers. So moving to C# makes no sense. ColdFusion is perfectly capable, performant, etc. Now, the code might be old. That's not ColdFusion, that's the code. Very different. Updating/refactoring that to modern CF is a SIGNIFICANTLY easier lift than a move to C#. You can be in CF and on Azure. (Azure 1.0 actually ran on CF, fun fact LOL). You can use MS tech. But the way C# works is vastly different than CF (not better, different). It is a compiled language. Strongly typed. These days, highly opinionated. There are companies who do this stuff everyday, like WRIS and CFWebTools, that can jump in here and give their experiences, but as someone with well over 20 years in CF and a solid 15 in C# I can tell you, there's no "converter". That's not how any of this works. If this is a contract you're trying to get, run away. Huge red flag. They don't understand app development at all and it will be a project from hell, no matter how you approach it.
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