BeanShell is a small, free, embeddable Java source interpreter with object scripting language features, written in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

. It runs in the

Java Runtime Environment Java is a set of computer software and specifications developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems, which was later acquired by the Oracle Corporation, that provides a system for developing application software and deploying it in a cros ...

(JRE), dynamically executes standard Java syntax and extends it with common scripting conveniences such as loose types, commands, and method closures, like those in Perl and JavaScript.

Features

While BeanShell allows its users to define functions that can be called from within a script, its underpinning philosophy has been to not pollute its syntax with too many extensions and "

syntactic sugar In computer science, syntactic sugar is syntax within a programming language that is designed to make things easier to read or to express. It makes the language "sweeter" for human use: things can be expressed more clearly, more concisely, or in an ...

", thereby ensuring that code written for a Java

compiler In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs that ...

can usually be executed interpretively by BeanShell without any changes and, almost just as much, vice versa. This makes BeanShell a popular

testing An examination (exam or evaluation) or test is an educational assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude, physical fitness, or classification in many other topics (e.g., beliefs). A test may be administered verba ...

and

debugging In computer programming and software development, debugging is the process of finding and resolving '' bugs'' (defects or problems that prevent correct operation) within computer programs, software, or systems. Debugging tactics can involve in ...

tool for the

Java virtual machine A Java virtual machine (JVM) is a virtual machine that enables a computer to run Java programs as well as programs written in other languages that are also compiled to Java bytecode. The JVM is detailed by a specification that formally describes ...

(JVM) platform. BeanShell supports scripted objects as simple method closures like those in

Perl Perl is a family of two high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming languages. "Perl" refers to Perl 5, but from 2000 to 2019 it also referred to its redesigned "sister language", Perl 6, before the latter's name was offici ...

and

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of Website, websites use JavaScript on the Client (computing), client side ...

. BeanShell is an

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

project and has been incorporated into many applications, such as

Apache OpenOffice Apache OpenOffice (AOO) is an open-source office productivity software suite. It is one of the successor projects of OpenOffice.org and the designated successor of IBM Lotus Symphony. It is a close cousin of LibreOffice, Collabora Online and N ...

Apache Ant Apache Ant is a software tool for automating software build processes which originated from the Apache Tomcat project in early 2000 as a replacement for the Make build tool of Unix. It is similar to Make, but is implemented using the Java languag ...

, WebLogic Server Application Server,

Apache JMeter Apache JMeter is an Apache project that can be used as a load testing tool for analyzing and measuring the performance of a variety of services, with a focus on web applications. JMeter can be used as a unit-test tool for JDBC database connectio ...

, jEdit,

ImageJ ImageJ is a Java-based image processing program developed at the National Institutes of Health and the Laboratory for Optical and Computational Instrumentation (LOCI, University of Wisconsin). Its first version, ImageJ 1.x, is developed in the publ ...

JUMP GIS Java Unified Mapping Program (JUMP) is a Java based vector and raster GIS and programming framework. Current development continues under the 'OpenJUMP'' name. Features As featured on the project's website: * Platform independent (Windows, Linu ...

Apache Taverna Apache Taverna was an open source software tool for designing and executing workflows, initially created by the myGrid project under the name ''Taverna Workbench'', then a project under the Apache incubator. Taverna allowed users to integrate many ...

, and many others. BeanShell provides an easy to integrate

application programming interface An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how t ...

(API). It can also be run in command-line mode or within its own graphical environment.

History

The first versions of BeanShell (0.96, 1.0) were released by Patrick Niemeyer in 1999, followed by a series of versions. BeanShell 1.3.0 was released in August 2003. Version 2.0b1 was released in September 2003, culminating with version 2.0b4 in May 2005, which as of January 2015 is the newest release posted on the official webpage. BeanShell has been included in the Linux distribution

Debian Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of D ...

since 1999. BeanShell was undergoing

standardization Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization ...

through the

Java Community Process The Java Community Process (JCP), established in 1998, is a formalized mechanism that allows interested parties to develop standard technical specifications for Java technology. Anyone can become a JCP Member by filling a form available at thJCP w ...

(JCP) under JSR 274. Following the JCP approval of the BeanShell JSR Review Ballot in June 2005, no visible activity was taking place around BeanShell. The JSR 274 status is "Dormant". Since Java 9, Java instead includes

JShell JShell is a Java read-eval-print loop which was first introduced in the JDK 9. It is tracked by JEP 222 ''jshell: The Java Shell (Read-Eval-Print Loop)''. One reason why JShell was proposed for Java 9 is the lack of a standard interactive environ ...

, a different

read–eval–print loop A read–eval–print loop (REPL), also termed an interactive toplevel or language shell, is a simple interactive computer programming environment that takes single user inputs, executes them, and returns the result to the user; a program written ...

(REPL) shell based on Java syntax, indicating that BeanShell will not be continued. A

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods ei ...

of BeanShell, ''BeanShell2'', was created in May 2007 on the now-defunct

Google Code Google Developers (previously Google Code) , application programming interfaces (APIs), and technical resources. The site contains documentation on using Google developer tools and APIs—including discussion groups and blogs for developers usin ...

Web site. The ''beanshell2'' project has made a number of fixes and enhancements to BeanShell and multiple releases. , the latest version of BeanShell2 is v2.1.9, released March 2018. Since the closure of Google Code, the project has been hosted at

GitHub GitHub, Inc. () is an Internet hosting service for software development and version control using Git. It provides the distributed version control of Git plus access control, bug tracking, software feature requests, task management, continuous ...

. In December 2012, following a proposal to accept BeanShell as an

Apache Incubator Apache Incubator is the gateway for open-source projects intended to become fully fledged Apache Software Foundation projects. The Incubator project was created in October 2002 to provide an entry path to the Apache Software Foundation for projec ...

project, BeanShell was licensed to

The Apache Software Foundation The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is an American nonprofit corporation (classified as a 501(c)(3) organization in the United States) to support a number of open source software projects. The ASF was formed from a group of developers of the Ap ...

and migrated to the Apache Extras, changing the license to Apache License 2.0. The project was not accepted but instead projected to become part of the

Apache Commons The Apache Commons is a project of the Apache Software Foundation, formerly under the Jakarta Project. The purpose of the Commons is to provide reusable, open source Java software. The Commons is composed of three parts: proper, sandbox, and dorm ...

at a future time. Due to changes in the developers' personal circumstances, the BeanShell community did not, however, complete the move to Apache, but remained at Apache Extras. The project has since released BeanShell 2.0b5, which is used by

and

. A Windows automated installer, BeanShell Double-Click, BeanShell Double-Click , Free Development software downloads at. Sourceforge.net. Retrieved on 2013-07-21. was created in 2013. It includes desktop integration features.

Notes

References

External links

*
BeanShell at Apache Extras
{{Java (software platform) Scripting languages Java programming language family JVM programming languages Dynamically typed programming languages Java specification requests Software using the LGPL license Software using the Apache license

Features

History

See also

Notes

References

External links