From Scripting Language to AI Powerhouse: How BoxLang Is Redefining JVM Development (#97)

BoxLang is a modern dynamic JVM language built for rapid application development. It's 100% Java-interoperable, compiles to JVM bytecode, and deployable anywhere from OS to AWS Lambda to Spring Boot. In this episode, we sit down with Luis Majano (CEO of Ortus Solutions and creator of BoxLang) and Cristobal Escobar (BoxLang community manager) to dig into the wave of innovation that has hit the platform over the past few months.

We cover the BoxLang AI v3 release, a major overhaul that ships multi-agent orchestration with parent-child hierarchies, an AI Skills system based on Anthropic's open standard, MCP server integration (both consuming and serving), a composable middleware layer with six built-in classes including a FlightRecorder for deterministic CI testing, and a unified API spanning 17 AI providers. Luis and Cristobal walk us through the highlights of a 7-part BoxLang AI deep dive series, covering tools, memory systems & RAG, streaming, middleware, and MCP. We also touch on the BoxLang Spring Boot Starter, BoxLings (an interactive TDD/BDD learning platform), and TestBox 7's real-time streaming test runner.

Whether you're a Java developer curious about dynamic JVM languages, an AI engineer looking for a productive alternative to Python-based agent frameworks, or just want to see what the JVM ecosystem can do in 2026, this episode is for you.

Guests
Luis Majano
• Foojay author page (foojay.io/today/author/luis-majano)
• LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/lmajano)
Cristobal Escobar
• Foojay author page (foojay.io/today/author/cristobal-escobar)
• LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/cristobalescobarh)
Links
On the BoxLang website (boxlang.io):
• BoxLang docs (boxlang.ortusbooks.com)
• BoxLang AI docs (ai.ortusbooks.com)
• BoxLang Academy (learn.boxlang.io)
• BoxLang for desktop applications (boxlang.ortusbooks.com/getting-started/running…)
• BoxLang Spring Boot Starter (boxlang.ortusbooks.com/getting-started/running…)
• BoxLings (foojay.io/today/introducing-boxlings-an-intera…)
• Announcing MatchBox Open Beta: BoxLang, Now Running in New Places (ortussolutions.com/blog/announcing-matchbox-op…)
• Try BoxLang (try.boxlang.io)
On Foojay:
• Overview of all recent BoxLang AI articles: Complete Guide to Building AI Agents (foojay.io/today/boxlang-ai-series-complete-gui…)
• BoxLang AI v3 Has Landed (foojay.io/today/boxlang-ai-v3-has-landed-multi…)
• BoxLang AI Deep Dive series, Parts 1–7 (foojay.io/today/author/cristobal-escobar)
• How to Develop AI Agents Using BoxLang AI: A Practical Guide (foojay.io/today/how-to-develop-ai-agents-using…)
• Introducing the BoxLang Spring Boot Starter (foojay.io/today/introducing-the-boxlang-spring…)
• Introducing BoxLings! (foojay.io/today/introducing-boxlings-an-intera…)
• Introducing skills.boxlang.io — The Open Agent Skills Ecosystem for BoxLang & the Ortus World (foojay.io/today/introducing-skills-boxlang-io-…)

Content
00:00 Introduction of topic and guests
01:17 What is BoxLang and how to use it
05:25 Multi-runtime (WASM) with MatchBox, based on Rust
07:00 Combining BoxLang with Spring Boot
10:40 The abstraction approach in BoxLang AI, compared with LangChain4j and others
14:18 Markdown skill files similar to Claude are also used in BoxLang AI
15:21 About the 7-part Foojay BoxLang Deep Dive posts series, agents, event-driven,...
19:28 BoxLang can be used for MCP server and client
23:01 Premium features in BoxLang and building a company on an open-source project
27:52 BoxLings, an interactive learning tool for BoxLang that teaches TDD and BDD
30:25 TestBox 7, real-time streaming test execution and a browser-based IDE
32:58 How to get started with BoxLang?
34:14 How the evolutions in the JVM and Java language influence BoxLang development
39:33 Which article to read first on Foojay about BoxLang?
43:27 More learning resources and ideas for the future and desktop development
48:05 Conclusions