Welcome to MatchBox

What MatchBox is, how it relates to BoxLang, and your first script, run in the browser.

BoxLang is a dynamic language for building applications. It normally runs on the JVM. MatchBox is a second runtime for the same language, written in Rust. It compiles your code to bytecode and runs it on a small virtual machine, which lets BoxLang go places the JVM does not fit: a single native executable, a browser tab, a serverless function, even a microcontroller.

You write the same language either way. What changes is where it runs and what you can reach from it. MatchBox complements the JVM runtime, it does not replace it. See what is MatchBox and differences from BoxLang for the details.

Your first script

Press Run this in your browser under the code. Nothing is installed and nothing is sent to a server: the compiler and the VM run on your device.

function greet( name ) {
    return "Hello, #name#!";
}

println( greet( "MatchBox" ) );

Output:

Hello, MatchBox!

A few things to notice:

• .bxs is the file extension for a BoxLang script.
• #name# inside a double-quoted string inserts the value of name. You will see more of this in lesson 3.
• println writes a line to the console.

Try it

Change "MatchBox" to your own name and run it again. Then add a second println call that greets someone else.

What you will learn