I disagree with you here. Although I would not choose ColdFusion for anything these days, in 1998/1999 it was a super fast way to get a web site/app together. Post 2000 it was converted to Java and became a glorified JSP tag library. It was a good platform that didn't stand the test of time.

I remember it being quite horrible around that time. But, as you say, a fast way to get a site together. I maintain that PHP was actually less worse, and I despise PHP with a contempt that would give [INSERT DICTATOR HERE] pause.