ColdFusion components can provide information in the following ways:

• They can generate output that is displayed on the calling page.
• They can return a variable.

You can use either technique, or a combination of both, in your applications. The technique that you use should depend on your application's needs and your coding methodologies. For example, many CFC methods that perform business logic return the results as a variable, and many CFC methods that display output directly are designed as modular units for generating output, and do not do business logic.