CFML is a dynamic application development tool with many of the features of a programming language, including functions, expressions, variables and constants, and flow-control constructs, such as if-then and loops. CFML also has a "language within a language," CFScript, which enables you to use a syntax similar to JavaScript for many operations.

These elements and other basic CFML entities such as comments, data types, escape characters, and reserved words, let you create complex applications.