This tag is the hot-rodded relative to both HTML's <INPUT TYPE="text"> and ColdFusion's <CFINPUT TYPE="text">. Like the other tags, it uses JavaScript to work its magic behind the scenes, but <CFTEXTINPUT> takes things a step further by creating the entire input box as a JavaScript function.
What does this mean to you, the developer? It means more control over the way your text input boxes look on the page. With <CFTEXTINPUT> you can customize the font, text color, and box color of your text input elements. Let's look at an example in Figure 11.4.