Dynamic JVM Language Adds Server-Sent Events, JDBC Cache Store, and AST Generation Capabilities
Houston, TX – November 7, 2025 – Ortus Solutions today announced BoxLang 1.7.0, a major release of its modern dynamic JVM language that introduces enterprise-grade features for building real-time applications, horizontally scalable systems, and AI-powered solutions.
BoxLang 1.7.0 brings native Server-Sent Events (SSE) support, JDBC-backed distributed caching, Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) generation capabilities, and bytecode compatibility versioning, along with significant performance improvements across the runtime.
Real-Time Streaming with Server-Sent Events
The highlight of this release is first-class support for Server-Sent Events through a new SSE() built-in function and Emitter system. This enables developers to build real-time applications with streaming responses, perfect for AI chatbots, live dashboards, progressive content loading, and real-time notifications. Version 1.8 will bring the introduction of an SSEConsumer() approach that will allow you to consume Server Side Events from any BoxLang runtime.
// Stream real-time analytics data
SSE(
callback : ( emitter ) => {
var startTime = now();
var updateInterval = 5000; // Update every 5 seconds
while ( !emitter.isClosed() && dateDiff( "s", startTime, now() ) < 300 ) {
var metrics = {
activeUsers : getActiveUserCount(),
requestsPerSecond : getCurrentRPS(),
avgResponseTime : getAvgResponseTime(),
timestamp : now()
};
emitter.send( metrics, "metrics" );
sleep( updateInterval );
}
emitter.close();
},
async : true,
keepAliveInterval : 15000
);
The SSE implementation includes async execution for non-blocking streaming, automatic keep-alive to maintain connections, CORS support for cross-origin requests, client disconnect detection with graceful cleanup, and automatic chunking of large data (splitting messages >32KB).
java
// Stream AI responses in real-time
SSE(
callback : ( emitter ) => {
var response = callAIService();
while ( !emitter.isClosed() && response.hasMoreTokens() ) {
emitter.send( response.getNextToken(), "token" );
}
emitter.send( { complete : true }, "done" );
},
async : true,
keepAliveInterval : 30000,
timeout : 300000
);
Enterprise-Grade Distributed Caching
BoxLang 1.7.0 introduces a new JDBC Cache Store that enables cache sharing across multiple BoxLang instances backed by enterprise databases. The implementation supports all major database platforms including Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Apache Derby, HSQLDB, and SQLite.
// Configure in boxlang.json
{
"caches" : {
"distributedCache" : {
"provider" : "BoxCache",
"properties" : {
"objectStore" : "JDBCStore",
"datasource" : "myDatasource",
"table" : "boxlang_cache",
"autoCreate" : true,
"maxObjects" : 1000,
"evictionPolicy" : "LRU"
}
}
}
}
The JDBC Cache Store features automatic schema management with table and index creation, vendor-optimized SQL generation for each database platform, full eviction policy support (LRU, LFU), and serialization using Base64-encoded object marshalling for complex types. All cache stores now expose an isDistributed() method for ecosystem tools to detect distribution capabilities.
Code Analysis with BoxAST()
A new BoxAST() built-in function provides programmatic access to BoxLang’s Abstract Syntax Tree, enabling developers to build sophisticated code analysis tools, linters, formatters, documentation generators, refactoring utilities, and CFML-to-BoxLang migration tools.
// Parse BoxLang code
ast = BoxAST( source : "x = 1 + 2; y = x * 3;" );
// Or use the convenient member method
ast = "function hello() { return 'world'; }".toAST();
// Parse from files
ast = BoxAST( filepath : "myScript.bx" );
// Return as JSON for external tools
astJson = BoxAST(
source : "function hello() { return 'world'; }",
returnType : "json"
);
// Parse CFML code for migration tools
cfAst = BoxAST(
source : "<cfset x = 1><cfoutput>#x#</cfoutput>",
sourceType : "cftemplate"
);
The function supports parsing BoxLang script and template syntax as well as CFML/ColdFusion syntax for compatibility and migration scenarios. Results can be returned as structured data, JSON, or text representation.
Bytecode Compatibility Versioning
BoxLang now implements bytecode compatibility versioning to ensure compiled classes remain compatible across runtime versions. This enhancement improves module stability and provides better guarantees when distributing compiled BoxLang code—particularly important for module authors and teams managing large codebases across multiple environments.
Performance and Stability Enhancements
Version 1.7.0 delivers significant performance improvements, including:
- Scheduled Tasks: Major performance boost through optimized concurrent maps
- Static Initializers: Faster class initialization
- ASM Generation: Streamlined bytecode generation, eliminating disk operations
- Cache Operations: Performance tuning across all cache store implementations
The release also includes over 40 bug fixes addressing database operations, stored procedures, file operations, HTTP handling, path resolution, CFML compatibility, and Windows platform support.
Professional Open Source Model
BoxLang operates under a professional open-source model with three licensing tiers: Open-Source Apache 2.0, BoxLang+, and BoxLang++. The base language is free and open-source under Apache 2.0 license, while commercial tiers offer support and enterprise features with transparent, fair pricing based on usage rather than cores, RAM, or domains.
Ortus Solutions announced several new modules exclusively for BoxLang+ subscribers including bx-redis (high-performance Redis integration), bx-csv (advanced CSV processing), bx-ldap (LDAP directory services), bx-spreadsheet (Excel operations), and bx-pdf (PDF generation). Additional modules including bx-couchbase, bx-mongodb, and bx-elasticsearch are planned for future releases.
Availability and Resources
BoxLang 1.7.0 is now available through multiple distribution channels, including quick installers for Mac/Unix, and Windows, BoxLang Version Manager (BVM), Maven Central, and direct download at boxlang.io/download.
Complete release notes are available at https://boxlang.ortusbooks.com/readme/release-history/1.7.0
Full blog post: https://www.ortussolutions.com/blog/boxlang-v170-real-time-streaming-distributed-caching-and-more
Try BoxLang online: https://try.boxlang.io
Documentation: https://boxlang.ortusbooks.com
About BoxLang
BoxLang is a modern dynamic JVM language and framework that can be deployed across multiple runtimes, including operating systems (Windows/Mac/*nix/Embedded), web servers, serverless platforms (AWS Lambda, Azure Functions), servlet containers (Tomcat, Jetty, JBoss, Undertow), Docker containers, mobile platforms (iOS, Android), Web Assembly, and more.
BoxLang combines features from multiple programming languages, including Java, CFML, Python, Ruby, Go, and PHP, providing developers with a modern, functional, and expressive syntax. The language was designed with key goals in mind: rapid application development (RAD), 100% Java interoperability, dynamic and modular architecture, modern functional and fluent syntax, extensibility via modules, and compilation to Java ByteCode.
With built-in framework capabilities that include scheduling, application lifecycle management, event handling, asynchronous computing, task management, queues, and a modular architecture, BoxLang serves as both a powerful language and a comprehensive framework. BoxLang also functions as a replacement for Adobe ColdFusion and Lucee CFML, making it ideal for both greenfield projects and migrating legacy CFML applications.
About Ortus Solutions
Ortus Solutions is a leading software development company specializing in modern web application frameworks and tools for the JVM ecosystem. The company is the creator of BoxLang, ColdBox MVC Framework, CommandBox CLI, and other open-source projects that power thousands of applications worldwide.
Media Contact
Ortus Solutions, Corp.
Email: info@ortussolutions.com
Web: https://www.ortussolutions.com
BoxLang: https://boxlang.io
GitHub: https://github.com/ortus-boxlang/boxlang
