On Tap - History

History

Isaac Dealey began working on a content management system (CMS) in late 1998 following his first ColdFusion job at MCI WorldCom. The CMS transitioned through several names eventually becoming known as Tapestry (not to be confused with the Tapestry framework for Java). Isaac later abandoned the CMS but not before releasing an open source API for ColdFusion development called the Tapestry Application Programming Interface (TAPI) not to be confused with the Telephony Application Programming Interface (TAPI). The design of this early version focused on use within an existing application and within several months Isaac decided that the system requirements to support this strategy were too limiting. This led to the first release of the onTap framework (a complex clip of "on Tapestry") as an alternative to TAPI in August 2003. In spite of the fact that the name onTap shares pronunciation with a colloquial description of draught beer (which is often said to be "on tap"), the name engenders less confusion than either the TAPI acronym or the original CMS' name Tapestry.