Blog

BoxLang: Functional Binding to Member Methods

Maria Jose Herrera August 28, 2024

Spread the word

Maria Jose Herrera

August 28, 2024

Spread the word


Share your thoughts

Streamline your code with smooth method referencing!

We’re excited to unveil a new feature that makes method referencing in BoxLang even smoother. Building on our recent update introducing functional static binding to built-in functions, we're now bringing the same ease to member methods.

BoxLang Ticket

What’s New?

With this update, you can now directly bind to member methods without the fuss of declaring closures. This means you can streamline your code and make it more readable.

For example, instead of using closures like this:

pendingOrders.each(order => order.submit())

You can now simply use:

pendingOrders.each(.submit)

How Does It Work?

By prefixing your method name with a period (.), you can reference member methods without needing to bind them to a specific instance. This makes your code more concise and eliminates extra boilerplate. Plus, if your methods require arguments, you can pass them like this:

[ "brad", "luis", "jon" ].map(.left(1)) // [ "b", "l", "j" ]

Here, .left(1) is used to call the left method on each string in the array, stripping one character from each name.

Try BoxLang

Why This Matters

This feature not only simplifies method binding but also keeps your code clean and expressive. It’s all about making your development experience smoother and more intuitive.

Want to dive deeper into this feature? Check out the details in our ticket: [BL-351]

BoxLang Ticket

Happy coding!

Add Your Comment

Recent Entries

Speaker Featuring - Round 1

Speaker Featuring - Round 1

Every conference is more than the talks we see on stage it’s also the story of the people who make it possible.

With the first round of Into the Box 2026 sessions and workshops now live, we’re excited to introduce some of the speakers who will be joining us this year. These community members, practitioners, and Ortus team experts bring decades of real-world experience across CFML, BoxLang, JVM modernization, testing, AI, and cloud-native development.

Victor Campos
Victor Campos
January 26, 2026
First Round of the Into the Box 2026 Agenda Is Live

First Round of the Into the Box 2026 Agenda Is Live

Into the Box 2026 marks an important moment for the CFML and BoxLang community not just because of what’s on the agenda, but because of what it represents: 20 years of Ortus Solutions helping teams move forward, modernize, and build with confidence.

Victor Campos
Victor Campos
January 21, 2026
BoxLang AI v2: Enterprise AI Development Without the Complexity

BoxLang AI v2: Enterprise AI Development Without the Complexity

One Year. 100+ Features. Unlimited Possibilities.

Just one year ago, in March 2024, we launched BoxLang AI 1.0. Today, we're thrilled to announce BoxLang AI v2—a massive leap forward that positions BoxLang as the most powerful and versatile AI framework on the JVM.

Luis Majano
Luis Majano
January 19, 2026